Warning: Spoilers
NetflixThe visionary director behind The Haunting of Hill House, which has taken Netflix by storm in the lead up to Halloween 2k18, will be making a sequel to The Shining.
Mike Flanagan, who also adapted Shining author Stephen King’s novel Gerald’s Game will be tackling his 2013 novel Doctor Sleep.
The film will star Ewan McGregor as an adult Danny Torrance, son of Jack Torrance who infamously succumbs to cabin fever in the seminal 1977 novel.
King has already given approval to Flanagan’s Hill House series, saying on Twitter last week:
I don’t usually care for this kind of revisionism, but this is great. Close to a work of genius, really. I think Shirley Jackson would approve, but who knows for sure.
The show’s Michiel Huisman, played by Steven Crain, recently opened up about the show’s ending, revealing there were ‘possibilities,’ which is almost as chilling a promise as the scares in Hill House (I’m shortening it to Hill House guys).
He told JOE:
Well, you know what. Very early on, when we were still shooting this show, we had conversations about what a second season could look like and I think that one of the crazy things about Mike is that he is an infinite well of ideas and stories.
I don’t think he ever sleeps! There are possibilities – if the show is a hit – to create a second season and still be in this world of Hill House.
But I could also totally see him (Flanagan) pitch an idea where we just do a spin-off. Film an anthology series and take it in a completely different direction. We have to wait and see. That’s one of the cool things about Netflix, they’re open to anything. We’ll wait and see.
It’s gonna be some task following up the finale, which ran the psychological gamut of grief, anguish and desolation. Nell’s posthumous monologue to her siblings, coupled with Hugh and Stephen’s final, loaded goodbye is enough to break the sternest cynic.
That being said, it appears we got off lightly compared to what was originally in store. Episode 10 wrapped up on a hopeful note, with each of the four remaining siblings taking significant steps forward with their personal lives.
Stephen reconciled with his wife, Leigh, while Shirley was finally honest about her marital indiscretions. Theo moved out of the guest house and even chucked her signature gloves in the trash. Best of all, troubled Luke was shown looking healthy and clean as he celebrates with his brother and sisters.
Even among the dead there’s a little warmth to be had, with Hugh, Olivia and Nell shown united and embracing in their shared afterlife. But things were nearly quite different.
Director Mike Flanagan, whose name should surely be now listed with the horror greats, told The Hollywood Reporter:
We toyed with the idea for a little while that over that monologue, over the image of the family together, we would put the Red Room window in the background.
For a while, that was the plan. Maybe they never really got out of that room. The night before it came time to shoot it, I sat up in bed, and I felt guilty about it. I felt like it was cruel. That surprised me. I’d come to love the characters so much that I wanted them to be happy.
He added:
I came in to work and said, ‘I don’t want to put the window up. I think it’s mean and unfair’. Once that gear had kicked in, I wanted to lean as far in that direction as possible. We’ve been on this journey for 10 hours; a few minutes of hope was important to me.
Which ending do you prefer? Personally, I don’t see either as ‘endings’ if you know what I mean… bring on season two!
The Haunting Of Hill House crept onto Netflix as of October 12.
Doctor Sleep will arrive in cinemas January 24, 2020.
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