Earlier this year, director Mike Flanagan officially signed on to the feature film adaptation of Doctor Sleep, Stephen King‘s sequel to the horror classic, The Shining. Now, Ewan McGregor has reportedly been cast to take the leading role as the grown-up Danny Torrance, a character made famous by young Danny Lloyd in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of The Shining.
Variety was the first to report McGregor’s casting in Doctor Sleep, and it notes that King has reportedly offered his blessing for the news. King released Doctor Sleep in 2013, nearly four decades after The Shining was published. The book follows Danny’s life after the events at the Overlook Hotel as he descends into alcoholism and depression. However, Danny’s powers return when he embraces sobriety and he is given the “Doctor Sleep” nickname while comforting dying patients in a hospice. 
Variety notes that the success of It helped Warner Bros. put Doctor Sleep on its production slate, and it could potentially lead to a prequel movie called Overlook Hotel. The Doctor Sleep novel does revisit some aspects of The Shining and the ghosts who inhabit the doomed hotel, but it’s primarily focused on Danny’s story at the hospice. It also explores Danny’s relationship with Abra Stone, a young girl who develops powers similar to his own Shining abilities.
Doctor Sleep is expected to be released on January 24, 2020. It will likely begin production either later this year or in early 2019.
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Images: Disney Pictures/Warner Bros.
More Stephen King news!
- In the Tall Grass is getting a Netflix movie!
- The Castle Rock trailer is filled with King references
- The Long Walk is coming to the big screen!
