'The Shining' Sequel 'Doctor Sleep' Movie Adaptation Gets Release Date

The highly-anticipated follow-up to Stephen King's iconic haunted hotel film, The Shining, has just earned a release date. Doctor Sleep, based on the King novel of the same name, will land in theaters on January 24, 2020.

Stephen King's website describes the story, "Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Danny Torrance has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant 'shining' power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes 'Doctor Sleep.' Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival."

Mike Flanagan is attached to direct the film, having previously given audiences Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and last year's adaptation of King's Gerald's Game.

Stanley Kubrick delivered audiences an adaptation of King's The Shining in 1980 and, while many consider it to be a defining horror film, this adaptation earned mixed reviews when it was first released, with King himself being one of the biggest detractors. In 1997, director Mick Garris adapted the story into a miniseries through a collaboration with King.

"If you read the book first, that's what it's about, is the alcoholism and the humanity of a guy losing his humanity. That pressure cooker that's going to blow, that this is a guy saddled by guilt and alcoholism," Garris shared with ComicBook.com. "Whereas Kubrick's film, at the time, I really was not a fan of the movie at all and I didn't know anyone who was, but it resonated with young people like teenagers and everything."

He added, "I recognize it now as a great Kubrick film, but a flawed King adaptation. At that time, that book was my favorite book of all time. I was thinking, 'God, the genius of Stanley Kubrick and The Shining. This is going to be the scariest movie ever made.'"

Ahead of Doctor Sleep, fans can expect Pet Sematary on April 19, 2019 and IT: Chapter Two on September 7, 2019.

Which King adaptation are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T The Hollywood Reporter]