For years, I had no idea why, after absolutely loving Different Seasons, another Stephen King book reading experience would never (at least to this day) happen. That answer was found from a Ewan McGregor sound bite from the Doctor Sleep premiere, and it’s featured in the following post.
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Director Mike Flanagan previously adapted Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game, so Doctor Sleep is his second go round with shaping a King work into cinematic form. The great news is that King gave his endorsement to Doctor Sleep after watching it at an empty theater (with Flanagan) at Bangor, Maine (where King resides).
Doctor Sleep is a follow-up to The Shining, as the now adult Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) continues to struggle with his past and his own precognitive abilities.
“The Doctor Sleep novel and our script seems very much to be about recovery,” said McGregor. “The child having gone through this terrible experience. How does he carry on and how does he deal with his “shine?” How does he deal with the fact that he’s different and he deals with it by drinking like his father did to the point where he can’t do that anymore and as his father did – his father got sober 5 or 6 months before he took the job at The Overlook Hotel but our Dan gets sober and then is led back to The Overlook Hotel, eventually.”
During the premiere of Doctor Sleep, Ewan McGregor hinted that the ending of the film will reconcile the tension between fans of The Shining novel and film. Stanley Kubrick enthusiasts and fans of The Shining may have taken exception to Stephen King’s dissatisfaction with the film, and I realized that I subconsciously spent years avoiding King’s novels due to that very fact (the crazy thing one does sans knowing!).
Well into middle age, I realized my decision was an awful one, and I’m sure Stephen King fans who loved The Shining but also disliked the film version have very valid points. To wit, I actually tried reading that novel but was so scared s**tless that I immediately stopped after several pages.
Here’s Ewan McGregor’s sound bite regarding the ending of Doctor Sleep:
I’m definitely excited to see Doctor Sleep this weekend and am on the road to getting back to reading King’s novels (I’m starting with Gerald’s Game). Are you excited for this film as well? Feel free to comment below!
Doctor Sleep, co-starring Rebecca Ferguson, hits theaters November 8.
