From the moment Doctor Sleep was announced as the modern day sequel to The Shining, its existence became a closely followed prospect in the film world. Since the Stephen King sequel was basically a shoo-in to be developed into a feature film, everyone was wondering what courageous being would be named as brave enough to bring Danny Torrance's continuing story to life. As of tonight, Akiva Goldsman is the courageous, brave writer to bring King's legacy to life.
The item comes from The Tracking Board, who picked up on Goldsman's hiring, as well as the fact that his other Stephen King adaptation, The Dark Tower, qualifies him to play in the sandbox of the horror master's universe. Doctor Sleep sees the middle-aged Danny Torrance dealing with his supernatural gifts in the same way his father would have: with copious amounts of alcohol. Though it's not long until Danny's given something to fight for, as a young girl with similar gifts is being hunted, with Danny being the only one that can help her.
Even without the work on an older draft of The Dark Tower in his corner, Akiva Goldsman has had plenty of experience with adapting a book to the screen. Most notably, Goldsman has brought the worlds of both fiction and non-fiction to life, with projects like A Beautiful Mind, The DaVinci Code and The Divergent Series: Insurgent all on his resume. However, Doctor Sleep isn't like any of those other films, as it comes with the expectations of being a fitting follow-up to The Shining, which was not only directed by Stanley Kubrick – but also co-written by the man himself. With Stephen King himself serving as an executive producer, it's a good bet that the pressure won't be on Akiva Goldsman too much, as he'll be able to work with the man that started it all.
With a writer in place for Doctor Sleep, the next big decision is obviously going to be the director who's name will reside next to Stanley Kubrick's in the franchise's history. As the film does not have a production date or a release window specified, there's plenty of time for willing candidates to line up and take a meeting with Stephen King. Though if you find yourself to be one of those candidates, we'd like to remind you that it's probably not the best thing to start your conversation with how much you loved Kubrick's The Shining. Just a friendly piece of advice.
Doctor Sleep is one of those movies that could either work extremely well, or turn into the ultimate nightmare for the author and the fans alike if it flops. We'll be watching this one closely, and as soon as we hear anything new, you'll be the first to know!
