The novel ‘Doctor Sleep,’ which became a bestseller upon release on September 24th, 2013 by the publishing company Charles Scribner’s Sons, is being adapted by Akiva Goldsman, who won an Oscar for adapting ‘A Beautiful Mind’ and also wrote the filmographic scripts for ‘Batman & Robin’ and ultimately, ‘Practical Magic.’
The storyline mirrors Danny Torrance years after the events in the Overlook Hotel as he suffers from the trauma of what occurred to him and his family. He acquires a psychic link to a twelve-year-old girl who he feels the obligation to rescue after she gets involved with a wicked society of paranormals.
Stephen King will be an executive producer on the project while a director is yet to be confirmed. It is one of many Stephen King adaptations in process. Later this year sees the release of ‘Cell,’ with John Cusack and Samuel Leroy Jackson while ‘It’ and ‘The Dark Tower,’ starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are also heading towards production.
Stephen King has publicly confessed that he is not an enthusiast of Stanley Kubrick’s take on ‘The Shining.’ Last year, he spoke to in an interview and described the film as “misogynistic” for presenting Wendy Torrance as “a screaming dishrag.” He was also implicated in a television miniseries based on the same book, starring Steven Weber and Rebecca de Mornay.
Meanwhile, after years of speculation girdling the adaptation of his magnum opus, “The Dark Tower,” Stephen King has confirmed that Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey will play the lead roles after being strongly linked to the parts for months.
Both actors were linked to the project since last year, with Matthew McConaughey being mentioned as a tough contender for the role of Walter Padick aka the Man in Black, while in December, Idris Elba was tilted to play Roland Deschain aka the Gunslinger.
Contrary to ‘Doctor Sleep,’ ‘The Dark Tower’ storyline follows the lines of ‘The Gunslinger,’ the 1982 novel which sprang the series. Nikolaj Arcel, best known for 2012’s acclaimed drama ‘A Royal Affair,’ will direct the film, and he reported to Entertainment Weekly that much of the film takes place in the present-day world, and declared that he thought Idris Elba was a perfect fit for the hero of the novels, ‘The Gunslinger.’
Stephen King also alluded to the long route it is taken to get the books on the big screen, which had involved a displeased bid by Ron Howard to adapt the series with Javier Bardem in the role of ‘The Gunslinger.’
As reported, Stephen King has previously slammed the film adaptations of his stories ‘Graveyard Shift’ and ‘The Shining,’ and praised those of ‘Cujo,’ ‘Stand By Me’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ in a wide-ranging interview with a known publication, where he said that his disappointment with some adaptations of his work, saying he was dazzled with ‘Stand by Me’ (adapted from the short story ‘The Body’) and ‘The Shawshank Redemption,’ but others – including ‘Graveyard Shift’ and ‘The Shining’ – were not so enthusiastically received.
‘Doctor Sleep’ is reportedly due for late 2017. Meanwhile, we would like to know your opinion concerning ‘The Shining,’ which according to Stephen King left much to desire, yet most cinematics considers it a cult masterpiece.
