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Mike Flanagan’s highly-anticipated sequel to “The Shining”, “Doctor Sleep” was pimped today at CinemaCon. Warner Bros revealed a new behind-the-scenes reel, along with a first look at some footage, of the Ewan McGregor-starrer.
Based on what was seen – or rather heard (considering the music tipped most people off to it) – seems the film is more of a sequel to the Stanley Kubrick-Jack Nicholson film as opposed to the original Stephen King book.
Says ComicBook.com :
An early behind-the-scenes look plays. ‘When I found out that Stephen King was going to be publishing a sequel to The Shining, I lost my mind,’ director Mike Flanagan explained,” Davis detailed of the video shown. “Footage of Ewan McGregor’s Danny Torrance appearing tormented plays. He reaches out and wraps his hand around a child’s. The child is approached in the woods by a woman with a needle. Danny looks in the mirror and sees ‘REDRUM’ written on the wall behind him. It is very dark and blue.”
While this footage might not be the full-blown trailer that some attendees were hoping for, getting any footage about the film at all is sure to excite fans. Earlier this year, the film had its release date pushed forward from January of next year to November 8th, seemingly a sign of confidence from the studio.
IndieWire have a recap, too :
Warner Bros. showed off the first footage from the film, which included a look at a creepy campfire and Danny Torrance talking about how to deal with his “shine” problem decades after the events of “The Shining.” The footage included a title that said “Witness the Conclusion,” alluding to “Doctor Sleep” being the true ending to “The Shining” saga. The footage was brief but it began with a Kubrick-inspired overhead shot of a car driving through a forest (similar to how “The Shining” began) and ended with Danny looking up and seeing “Redrum” written on a mirror. The original “Shining” music played over the title card reveal.
MovieWeb had a more detailed description :
There are some very strong links to The Shining in the first couple of minutes from Doctor Sleep that were previewed. Warner Bros. is keeping any and all secrets about the Mike Flanagan adaptation on lockdown. But those in attendance did get a first look at Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance, the young boy from The Shining who is all grown up now.
In the sequel, Danny is attempting to deal with past trauma, but continues to struggle with the memories buried in his brain from childhood. A scene shows Torrance stumbling in the dark. He catches a glimpse in the mirror. And there it is. The ominous, iconic vision. ‘Redrum’. Murder spelled backwards, an iconic staple from Kubrick’s classic horror tale based on the novel by Stephen King. In the featurette shown to the exhibitors in attendance, Ewan McGregor had this to say.
“As a child he went through a terrible experience, and he’s trying to figure out how he’s going to deal with this Shine.”
The Shine refers to Danny’s supernatural ability to communicate telepathically. As the footage continues to spool on, we see Danny touching palms with a character believed to be Abra Stone. Those who have read Doctor Sleep know that Abra and Danny both share similar Shine powers. They will need these powers to battle a group of demonic child killers known as the True Knot. They are led by Rose the Hat, who is being played by Rebecca Ferguson.
In another scene shown to the Las Vegas crowd, Rose the Hat is shown walking on the roof of what appears to be her trailer home. There are quick glimpses of the other True Knot members in a junk yard. They are hunting down their young prey.
Warner Bros. used the creepy theme from The Shining, draping it gloriously over the images they were showing off. Fans of the original movie will feel quite nostalgic when they see it for themselves, if the filmmakers decide to continue using the music when it comes time to sell the movie to the masses.
Also starring Rebecca Ferguson, Bruce Greenwood, Zahn McClarnon, Alex Essoe, Jocelin Donahue, Jacob Tremblay, and Carl Lumbly, “Doctor Sleep” hits theaters November 8.
