Summary
- Director Mike Flanagan pays tribute to Jack Nicholson’s iconic axe scene from “The Shining” in a behind-the-scenes photo from “Doctor Sleep.”
- Flanagan’s passion for the franchise and Stephen King’s horror work is evident in his homage to “The Shining.”
- Flanagan’s successful adaptations of King’s novels, including “Doctor Sleep,” demonstrate his ability to bring the author’s work to life onscreen.
Doctor Sleep director Mike Flanagan has shared an image of himself recreating Jack Nicholson’s classic axe scene from The Shining. Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep is a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s classic film and Stephen King’s horror novel of the same name. The movie featured an older Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) trying to save a teenager who also has the Shining from a cult. The Overlook Hotel also makes an appearance in the movie.
Now, Mike Flanagan has shared a behind-the-scenes photo from Doctor Sleep, where he climbs the stairs much like Nicholson’s Jack Torrance did in the first film.
The scene is a clear homage to The Shining and Nicholson’s memorable portrayal of Jack. It also underscores Flanagan’s own passion for the franchise and for King’s horror work as a whole.
Mike Flanagan’s Future Stephen King Projects Explained
Doctor Sleep isn’t the only Stephen King project that Mike Flanagan has been involved in creating. The horror director also wrote and directed the Netflix original film Gerald’s Game, based on King’s 1992 novel of the same name. Flanagan’s next film, The Life of Chuck, is also based on a King work, this one being a short story from his 2020 collection If It Bleeds.
In addition, Flanagan will be undertaking the task of bringing King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower series, to life as a TV series. King has boasted support for Flanagan’s The Dark Tower already, showing just how much King trusts the director to bring his horror work to life onscreen. There’s no doubt the filmmaker’s work on Doctor Sleep helped show King how well he could translate his novels off the page.
Because of Flanagan’s clear respect for King and his work, it’s possible the filmmaker will tackle even more adaptations of his work in the future. For now, though, it seems his next big projects will be the two adaptations he currently has in development. However, it’s clear the dedication he first showed to King’s work with Doctor Sleep is what helped make his other adaptations of King’s stories a possibility.
