Doctor Sleep Director Confirms The Shining Prequel Scrapped Due to Disappointing Box Office

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Thanks to his accomplishments with Gerald's Game and then Doctor Sleep, some horror fans think filmmaker Mike Flanagan is the perfect choice to continue exploring the worlds of Stephen King, and while the TV series Flanagan planned on developing that served as a prequel to The Shining has seemed unlikely, Flanagan recently confirmed the project was definitively dead. He also noted that the reason for the dissolution of the project was due to the poor financial reception of Doctor Sleep. Luckily, Flanagan still has a number of unsettling projects on the horizon, while the worlds of King continue to expand in a variety of mediums.

When a fan shared artwork promoting the series that would have focused on Dick Hallorann, Flanagan then shared the artwork with his followers while adding the caption, "We were so close. I'll always regret this didn't happen." This inspired a fan to ask about the fate of the project, Flanagan bluntly admitted the reason it was scrapped, "Because of Doctor Sleep's box office performance, Warner Bros. opted not to proceed with it. They control the rights, so that was that."

Despite not necessarily being a massive financial success, Doctor Sleep performed relatively well critically, as 78% of its reviews are positive, according to aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. One of the last times Flanagan spoke about the project was back in 2020, with him giving the disappointing update at that time that it seemed unlikely to move forward. He also detailed at that time what he had hoped to explore with the project.

"There's this huge chunk of [Hallorann'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 explained in 2020. "I know where he begins and I know 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.

Stay tuned for details on Flanagan's future projects.

Are you disappointed the project won't be moving forward? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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