Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan revealed why The Shining prequel movie never happened. Based on the acclaimed Stephen King psychological horror novel of the same, The Shining premiered in 1980 and received mediocre reviews. However, in the years since its release, the film was reevaluated by critics and is now considered one of the greatest horror films of all time. Jack Nicholson starred as Jack Torrance, a struggling writer hired as the winter caretaker of the grand Overlook Hotel. Strange supernatural occurrences throughout the grounds haunt the Torrance family threatening their lives.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
Danny Lloyd starred as Jack's five-year-old son, Danny Torrance. A young boy imbued with special psychic abilities called the shining. He encounters Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers), the head chef at the hotel who also carries the shining. After completing Doctor Sleep, Flanagan was set on completing a The Shining prequel film that would have centered on Hallorann as a younger man and his time working at the hotel. However, the director confirmed in August 2020 that the film was put on hold indefinitely.
Flanagan recently took to social media and revealed why his The Shining prequel film never happened. Flanagan exclaimed in response to a fan-made poster of a hypothetical Hallorann film, "We were SO CLOSE." When asked why the prequel film never happened, the director explained that Warner Bros. decided not to further development on the movie due to Doctor Sleep's less-than-stellar box office performance. Check out what Flanagan wrote below.
Despite Doctor Sleep's praise from critics, the film did not perform well at the box office. Off its budget of $45-55 million, the movie only pulled in just over $72 million worldwide. This paled compared to other recent Stephen King cinematic adaptations such as Pet Sematary, which garnered $113 million from its $21 million budget, and It: Chapter Two, which made $473 million globally.
Regardless of quality, cinematic achievements, and awards, if a film does not make a significant return at the box office, many major Hollywood studios would consider said film a failure. Despite its lack of financial success, Doctor Sleep reportedly performed well when released to streaming platforms. However, with Warner Bros. recently pulling a lot of programming from HBO Max and outright canceling productions, such as the completed Bat-girl film, audiences will likely have to wait much longer to see if The Shining prequel will ever be revived.