Between ‘Oculus‘, ‘Hush’, and ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’, it’s probably fair to describe writer/director Mike Flanagan as a rising star in the realm of horror filmmaking. He’s even got a Stephen King adaptation under his belt, with this year’s Netflix original ‘Gerald’s Game’, based on the 1992 novel of the same name.
But Flanagan won’t be stopping there, at least not if he has anything to say about it. Speaking with Lilja’s Library, Flanagan revealed the King novels he’d most like to bring to the silver screen:
“There are so many. But the one’s I’d want to do the most are ‘Doctor Sleep’ and ‘Lisey’s Story’. In both cases because I identify with the protagonists so much. ‘Lisey’s Story’ is a stunning piece of work, a beautiful exploration of marriage. And who wouldn’t want to venture back into the world of Danny Torrance?”
King himself has expressed interest in seeing an adaptation of ‘Lisey’s Story’. The 2006 novel tells the story of the widow of a successful novelist as she cleans out her husband’s writing area and contends with an obsessed fan of his. The novel was inspired by the King’s return home following a brief hospitalization during which his wife decided to redesign his study.
‘Doctor Sleep‘, meanwhile, is King’s 2013 sequel to ‘The Shining’, which follows a now adult Danny Torrance. And despite the obvious appeal, this may actually be the project with the more fraught path to the screen. In part because of how personal the novel is to him, King has never been particularly happy with Stanley Kubrick’s classic film adaptation. Given that this dissatisfaction has been widely perceived as a major part of King’s motivation in spearheading the later 1997 television adaptation, it would be hard to blame producers or studio heads from hesitating to reopen that can of worms.
But that being said, anything is possible. This is especially so given the current surge in interest in adaptations of King’s work (to say nothing of the presence of 80s-flavored sci-fi/horror/supernatural stories in the zeitgeist – thank you ‘Stranger Things‘), with both the second half of Andy Muschietti’s ‘It‘ and a new version of ‘Pet Sematary‘ both on the near future release slate.
Be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on these and other upcoming Stephen King adaptations as it becomes available.