Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance.
King is one of the most well-known horror writers out there and several of his books and short stories have been adapted into films over the years. Hollywood's obsession with King's work started in 1976 when Marvel and DC have been in a friendly competition for years, with both companies trying to build up their own cinematic universes. Warner Bros. has hired directors such as Zack Snyder, Patty Jenkins, and Todd Phillips to direct their DC films, but Flanagan was also almost on their list of directors.
When being interviewed by CinePop, Flanagan said he would be open to directing a superhero movie and revealed that he even met with Warner Bros. about the prospect of him directing a DC film. The director even credits this meeting as the reason why he got to direct Doctor Sleep, since he was talking about his work on Gerald's Game with DC producer Jon Berg. The full interview with Flanagan can be seen below:
The Shining is often regarded as one of the best horror movies ever made, which sees Jack Torrance go insane and try to murder his wife and son. The film was directed by Stanley Kubrick and while it is considered a horror masterpiece, King has often gone on record stating how much he hates Kubrick's adaptation of his book. Doctor Sleep on the other hand has seemed to be more accepted by King, who is acting as an executive producer on the film. McGregor has stated that book and movie.
Warner Bros. has hired a diverse range of people to direct their superhero films and Flanagan could be a good director to helm one of the more grittier superhero flicks to match his horror background. Flanagan didn't indicate which DC movie he might have directed, but if Doctor Sleep is a success, it could make him even more of a hot commodity for Warner Bros. to have on their team. That being said, reviews for Doctor Sleep probably won't start coming out until fans go to see Fandango's early access screening on October 30th.
Source: CinePop
