Mike Flanagan is working on an exciting Stephen King adaptation, which seems to be the perfect follow-up to the director’s underrated horror sequel. After proving his ability to adapt classic horror novels for the big and small screens, Flanagan now has a long line of opportunities in the genre lined up for him.
Interestingly, there was a time when Mike Flanagan wanted to adapt Stephen King’s 1408. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the rights to the story were already owned by someone else, and its movie adaptation was already in the works. Instead of feeling let down, Flanagan drew inspiration from 1408 and gave it his own little spin to come up with a short, Oculus.
The director has come a long way since then and has already worked on multiple Stephen King adaptations, like Gerald’s Game and The Life of Chuck. Some of his upcoming movie and television projects will also be based on the author’s work. One of these projects will also be an unofficial successor to his most underrated sequel.
Carrie Is Mike Flanagan’s Second Stephen King Adaptation About Teens With Supernatural Powers After Doctor Sleep
Many Stephen King Characters Have “The Shine”
Directed by Mike Flanagan, 2019’s Doctor Sleep serves as a sequel to The Shining, following the story of a grown-up Danny Torrance. The movie shows how Danny still possesses “the shine” and also introduces a young character, Abra Stone, who has the same supernatural ability.
As reports have confirmed, Mike Flanagan is also working on a television adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie. Since the titular character in the original novel also has supernatural powers and arguably a version of “the shine,” Carrie will be Flanagan’s second Stephen King adaptation about teenagers with superpowers.
Doctor Sleep and Carrie have no direct narrative connections, but their shared theme of young characters grappling with dangerous psychic abilities ties them together. Interestingly, Mike Flanagan is creating another TV adaptation of a Stephen King book series, which also adopts the same character trope.
Carrie & Doctor Sleep Perfectly Set-Up Mike Flanagan’s The Dark Tower Adaptation
Dark Tower, Too, Features Individuals With Similar Superpowers
There is an entire story arc in Stephen King’s Dark Tower novels where a group of characters, referred to as the Breakers, use their telepathic and telekinetic abilities to attack the Beams. Not all Breakers in the novel series are children, but most of them are. Their exploitation even becomes a major story beat further ahead in the books.
Young characters like Jake Chambers and Alain Johns in the Dark Tower series also possess “the touch,” which is arguably synonymous with “the shine.” Given how Mike Flanagan has already portrayed some Stephen King protagonists with the shine, it would be interesting to see how he will capture the same again in his upcoming TV adaptations.
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- Created by
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Stephen King
- First Film
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The Dark Tower
- Upcoming TV Shows
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The Dark Tower
- Cast
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Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Dennis Haysbert, Claudia Kim, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, Katheryn Winnick, Michael Barbieri
- Movie(s)
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The Dark Tower
- Character(s)
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Roland Deschain, The Man in Black, Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, Oy, The Crimson King, Stephen Deschain, Sayre, Tirana
The Dark Tower is a multimedia franchise based on Stephen King’s epic series of eight novels. The story follows Roland Deschain, the last of the Gunslingers, as he embarks on a quest to reach the Dark Tower, a mystical structure that stands at the center of all worlds and realities. The series blends elements of dark fantasy, horror, science fiction, and Western genres. Over the years, the franchise has expanded beyond the original books to include a film, comic books, and upcoming TV adaptations, making it one of King’s most ambitious and interconnected works.
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Doctor Sleep
7/10
- Release Date
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November 8, 2019
- Runtime
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152 minutes
