Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. Ad Choices. With Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis. I've seen it screened at the test screenings and people just miss it completely.”. In King’s novel The Shining, the most dangerous room in the hotel is Room 217 — but Kubrick’s film changed it to Room 237. But be warned. You might watch that movie a hundred times and wonder why you're so affected by Lloyd the bartender, by Delbert Grady, and it doesn't occur to you until the hundred and first viewing that they never blinked. Directed by Mike Flanagan. Flanagan created a nod to the original in the old age home where Dan Torrance works, using his psychic abilities to comfort those who are near death. At one point it was like, ‘What if you find a Nicholson impersonator?’ What if Christian Slater does it? The pair didn’t part on great terms the last time they met, with the elder Torrance trying to chop the younger up with an axe and all. In her best moments, Ferguson rivals the unhinged madness Jack Nicholson brought to Jack Torrance. Leonardo DiCaprio was thrown out there. It doesn’t have Jack Nicholson, Stanley Kubrick or even much of the Overlook Hotel, but Rebecca Ferguson and other good actors provide some shine of their own in Doctor Sleep… Early on, though, digital avatars were out. The room’s structure, the camera angles, and the objects on the doctor’s desk exactly mirror Jack Torrance’s interview scene at the beginning of The Shining, right down to the little American flag and the salmon-colored walls. Most people miss it. It was always really, really down low.”. He also revealed a number of King and Kubrick Easter eggs hidden throughout Doctor Sleep. “Anytime you hear any source music on a radio, it’s songs that were used in various points of The Shining,” Flanagan said. The 1980 movie Doctor Sleep helmed by Stanley Kubrick adapted from Stephen King’s book is getting a sequel in the name “The Shining.” by Ruby November 5, 2019, 5:30 am 254 Views In a scene that director Mike Flanagan told HuffPost he knew would be the most “controversial” moment in the movie, Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor), trying to recover from his past, comes face to face with his dearly departed father, Jack Torrance. The Shining started life as a book by Stephen King and dealt with the Torrance family - consisting of husband and wife Jack and Wendy and young son Danny - as they settle into the isolated Overlook hotel to act as its caretakers during the winter. — plays Jack Torrance in Doctor Sleep. “This scene is about Dan. However, Nicholson’s character proved to be an additional challenge. the Extra-Terrestrial. Also, Scatman Crothers, who played Dick Hallorann in “The Shining,” died in the ’80s. “It was the secret that had been whispered about,” Flanagan said. I think he's serious about his retirement. “[At] what point am I just making a video game?” Flanagan said about the thought of seeing a digital version of characters on screen. “Jack is just denying being Jack, and that saves us from ever having to tiptoe toward an impression or toward parody,” Flanagan said. Sign up for membership to become a founding member and help shape HuffPost's next chapter. But for me it was like, no, I really think it's got to be Henry, and we'll do what we can with his look to help point us toward Jack.”, This role was kept hush-hush, even among the crew, and Thomas’ role remained under wraps until the release of the movie. Shockingly so. Vanity Fair spoke with The Haunting of Hill House and Gerald’s Game filmmaker about how he chose to tackle this issue, deviating significantly from Stephen King’s own 2014 sequel in this regard even though the movie overall is fairly faithful. Jack was memorably played by Jack Nicholson in The Shining, and Doctor Sleep takes place decades later as it follows the life of young Danny Torrance, now all … Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep was published in 2013 and is a sequel to his 1977 novel The Shining, which was famously adapted to the big screen in 1980 by Stanley Kubrick.Doctor Sleep follows the now adult Danny Torrance as … He never says his own name, resists acknowledging that he is speaking to his son. “You'll notice when you watch that scene again, he never blinks,” Flanagan says of the spectral character. Thomas has become a staple of Flanagan’s films and TV projects, often playing unsettling fathers, from Hill House to Gerald’s Game. Flanagan went to actor Henry Thomas, a frequent collaborator of his, to bring back Nicholson’s character. Flanagan rejected the idea of using digital effects to mimic actors from Kubrick’s 1980 movie. Fans of the 1980 film were immediately intrigued by the promise of the sequel, but just as many were quick to ask whether Jack Nicholson would be in it; he played Jack Torrance – Danny’s father – in the previous film. “There were ideas to try to really stunt cast it with big names who reminded people of Nicholson or were associated with Nicholson. © 2021 Condé Nast. From the awards race to the box office, with everything in between: get the entertainment industry's must-read newsletter. The tension of Dan’s encounter with his father’s spirit is in the younger man trying to conjure some humanity out him, to break through the facade and awaken or recover some of his old identity. Director Mike Flanagan explains how the new film dealt with the legacy of Jack Nicholson's ax-wielding father. I thought that was Kubrick, in his way, pointing to the solution to how to handle Jack.” Kubrick’s estate signed off on Doctor Sleep, but did Nicholson … Jack Nicholson to be a Part of Doctor Sleep Part 2! The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. He asked Thomas to play the majority of the part like Lloyd, the bartender from “The Shining,” and just let a bit of Jack out at the end.