{Exclusive} Akiva Goldsman Adapting Stephen King’s “The Shining” Sequel “Doctor Sleep”

〉 Goldsman is also a writer and producer on Sony’s adaptation of King’s The Dark Tower.

Academy Award-winning screenwriter Akiva Goldsman will adapt Stephen King’s DOCTOR SLEEP, the sequel to the horror classic The Shining, for Warner Bros.

Originally published in 1977, The Shining follows Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their son Danny and their lives at the haunted Overlook Hotel. While there, the hotel possesses Jack and he slowly takes over the hotel and torments Wendy and Danny.

Doctor Sleep takes place years after the events at the Overlook Hotel and focuses on the now middle-aged Danny who is still traumatized. He’s followed in his father’s footsteps and has problems with anger management and alcoholism. He soon gives up drinking and settles in a small town in New Hampshire. While there, his psychic abilities start to resurface and he develops a psychic link with a 12-year-old girl named Abra Stone who he must save after he discovers her life is being threatened by a tribe of paranormals led by a woman named Rose the Hat.

Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining was released in 1980 and has since become an iconic film, marking a pop cultural benchmark and a template for horror filmmakers.

Goldman’s involvement with Doctor Sleep comes shortly after the casting of Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba in Sony’s adaption of The Dark Tower, another one of King’s wildly popular book series. Goldsman is an obvious choice for the screenplay considering his familiarity with King’s work, specifically in penning an early draft of The Dark Tower script and serving as a producer on the project. He has plenty of experience adapting other high-profile literary adaptations as well, including The Da Vinci Code, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, and The 5th Wave.

Jon Berg and Jon Gonda will oversee for Warner, while King will serve as an executive producer on the project. No release date has been set. 

Goldsman has an extensive list of writing and producing credits, including an Oscar win for his screenplay for 2001’s Best Picture A Beautiful Mind. In addition to The Dark Tower, Goldsman’s forthcoming projects include Rings, Transformers 5 – for which he heads up Paramount writers’ room – and the horror fantasy Stephanie, which he directed.

He is repped by WME.

—TO SEE ALL THE PROJECT DETAILS CLICK HERE— 

Dino-Ray Ramos | Staff Writer