Doctor Sleep Director Has Disappointing Update on The Shining Prequel

Ahead of the release of last year’s Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, director Mike Flanagan had teased that he had hoped to spend more time in the world of Stephen King with the project Hallorran, focusing on the early years of Dick Hallorran, but the filmmaker recently pointed out that, despite having an outline of everything he wanted to cover in that project, things are looking doubtful that it will move forward. As if the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t enough of a complication to see the project earn delays, it’s likely that the underwhelming box office performance of Doctor Sleep also resulted in complications with the project’s development.

“I don’t know if it’ll go any further, to be honest,” Flanagan detailed to Mick Garris during a panel for the Fantasia International Film Festival. “I hope someday it gets back on track, because I really liked it.”

Over the course of two films, two novels, and a mini-series adaptation, the mythology of this narrative has presented fans with an abundance of material, which also includes some elements that contradict one another. One area of the mythology which hasn’t been explored, however, is Hallorran’s experiences before the Torrance family met him at the Overlook Hotel and he connected with Danny using their shared “shine.”

“There’s this huge chunk of [Hallorran’s] life where King just never provided anything, and that’s where we want to play. The fun part about that is I’ve got signposts on either side of that story,” the filmmaker detailed. “I know where he begins and I knows where he ends. It’s all about getting him from that little boy at the beginning of Doctor Sleep, who’s talking about his evil grandfather and learning about the shining and the lockboxes and getting him to be that man who takes the job at the Overlook Hotel. And who clearly, as referenced all over the books, had some kind of very traumatic experience in Room 237, or 217 in the book.”

He added, “That would be an incredible job. I don’t know how to approach that. I do know that I would need to touch base with King constantly, to make sure that we’re not messing up his character,” while confirming he had a “thorough outline” for that journey.

Despite the implications that Hallorran won’t be moving forward anytime soon, fans can see Flanagan’s next project, The Haunting of Bly Manor, when it lands on Netflix on October 9th.

Are you disappointed that Hallorran likely won’t be happening? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!