Doctor Sleep Director Reveals What to Expect in His Director's Cut

Stephen King fans finally returned to the Overlook Hotel on the big screen in this year's Doctor Sleep, yet the massive adventure removed a number of key sequences that were originally filmed to keep the pacing of the film engaging, though director Mike Flanagan confirms a number of sequences will be seamlessly edited back into the film for the upcoming home video release. When extended versions of films land on home video, fans often only see the rough versions of deleted sequences, while this upcoming release will offer audiences an all-new experience in the ways it extends the journeys of our characters. Doctor Sleep lands on Digital HD on January 21, 2020 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 4, 2020.

"I'm really excited that WB let me create this cut, much less release it," Flanagan shared in a statement [H/T Collider]. "They really supported it – to the point that they made sure all of the new material with VFX was fully finished, additional score was composed and orchestrated just for this cut, and we did a full mix as well. They really let us do this right – it's a finished, complete, fully polished new cut of the movie. Nothing in it is temp."

He added, "There is new material throughout the whole film. Some of it is brand-new stuff that was never included in the theatrical cut, and there's also a handful of extended (or altered) scenes as well. There was never any intention to release this cut theatrically, we always knew it was too long. But we worked on it alongside the theatrical cut throughout post, and it made it a lot easier to make hard decisions in the edit, knowing that some day this cut might see the light of day."

Flanagan pointed out that he was proud of the theatrical release of the film, but that the longer he thought about the scenes he ended up cutting, he lamented that they were no longer there, allowing this Director's Cut to offer another take on the material.

"There are some big new scenes, for sure. I don't want to spoil any of that, but I can say that there is new material throughout (including in the final act at the Overlook)," Flanagan explained. "Some of my favorite stuff involved Young Danny and Wendy (there's some terrific material with Alex Essoe that I'm thrilled is restored here), and will be familiar to fans of the book. There's also a fair amount of new stuff involving young Abra in the film's first act, learning about her shine, and how it affects her parents."

He pointed out, "There are some surprises I definitely won't spoil here. All in all, I think this cut is more literary than the theatrical cut. It very much feels like reading a novel… and is even broken into chapters, which gave this cut a very fun structure."

You can get Doctor Sleep on Digital HD on January 21, 2020 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on February 4, 2020.

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