Stephen King teases Shawshank Redemption fans will love Doctor Sleep

October 24th 2019, 3:25pm

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE director Mike Flanagan's adaptation of DOCTOR SLEEP – Stephen King's sequel to THE SHINING – is coming next month. And today King teased over on Twitter that, along with THE SHINING, fans of THE MIST and THE WALKING DEAD director (and THE BLOB and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAMS WARRIORS writer) Frank Darabont's THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION will dig this film as well.

Does this mean DOCTOR SLEEP will contain callbacks and connections to THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION?

King tweets:

DOCTOR SLEEP: Mike Flanagan is a talented director, but he’s also an excellent storyteller. The movie is a good thing. You’ll like this if you liked THE SHINING, but you’ll also like it if you liked SHAWSHANK. It’s immersive.

Now it very well could be that King is merely saying that Flanagan's take on DOCTOR SLEEP is so damn good that fans of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION will love it on the same cinematic level. Maybe. But even if THAT side of the coin ends up being the case here, Stephen f*cking King just said DOCTOR SLEEP is on the same level as THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. That's a bold statement…

You can get a first look at the film at around 400 theaters across the nation with exclusive early access screenings on October 30th – nine days before the film's U.S. release. Participating theatre chains include AMC Theatres, Regal, Cinemark, Marcus Theatres, Harkins Theatres, and many more.

Check if your local theater's participating HERE.

The movie has been slapped with an R-rating for "disturbing and violent content, some bloody images, language, nudity and drug use", and will run 2 hours and 32 minutes. You can go ahead and give the trailer a look-see above and then make sure to hit us up and let us know what you think!

It has the following synopsis:

Still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Dan Torrance has fought to find some semblance of peace. But that peace is shattered when he encounters Abra, a courageous teenager with her own powerful extrasensory gift, known as the “shine.” Instinctively recognizing that Dan shares her power, Abra has sought him out, desperate for his help against the merciless Rose the Hat and her followers, The True Knot, who feed off the shine of innocents in their quest for immortality.

Forming an unlikely alliance, Dan and Abra engage in a brutal life-or-death battle with Rose. Abra’s innocence and fearless embrace of her shine compel Dan to call upon his own powers as never before — at once facing his fears and reawakening the ghosts of the past.

The much-anticipated flick also stars Kyleigh Curran as Abra Stone, Carl Lumbly as Dick Halloran, Alex Essoe as Wendy Torrance, Bruce Greenwood as Danny's friend Dr. John Dalton, Rebecca Ferguson as cult leader Rose the Hat, Zahn McClarnon as her right-hand man Crow Daddy, and Jocelin Donahue in an unspecified role. Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Stephen King's DOCTOR SLEEP shines into theaters on November 8, 2019.