Posts

Ewan McGregor to Play Danny Torrance All Grown Up in ‘The Shining’ Sequel Doctor Sleep

/0 Comments/in , /by

Who knew Danny Torrance would grow up to be such a hunk! The beyond-traumatized adolescent protagonist of Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1980 film, The Shining, is the adult star of the upcoming sequel, Doctor Sleep. We’ve known for a while that Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Gerald’s Game, Hush) would be directing the film, based on the 2013 novel by Stephen King… but today we learned that the protagonist will be played by an A-List actor!

Variety reports that Ewan McGregor is set to star in the film as Danny Torrance, and that Stephen King himself has given his blessing to this exciting casting news. McGregor has over 80 acting credits to date, including fan favorite roles as Renton in Trainspotting and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. While he’s certainly better known for action and drama roles than straight-up horror, he did happen to star in one episode of Tales from the Crypt in 1996. read more

Stephen King’s ‘Dr. Sleep’ Adaptation Scheduled for January 2020 Release

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Warner Brothers Pictures announced today that Stephen King’s sequel to the Shining entitled Doctor Sleep will be released on January 24,  2020.

Doctor Sleep will be directed by Mike Flanagan, who is known for Oculus, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and the recent King adaptation Gerald’s Game.

Horror News Network’s John Evans covered Doctor Sleep way back in January, and described the story as “Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep follows Danny Torrance, who is still suffering from his experiences as a young boy at the infamous Overlook Hotel. That’s where many of the most obvious connections to The Shining cease, as the majority of the novel is much more action-oriented and focused on Mr. Torrance’s conflict with a group of psychic vampires over the soul of young girl whose “shining” abilities are unparalleled. Whether Flanagan remains faithful to the text or decides to veer off in his own direction- like Kubrick did before him- remains to be seen. It’s worth noting, however, that Flanagan’s adaptation of Gerald’s Game is recognized by fans as being closest to the source text of all of the recent movies based on King’s work.” read more

More Casting News for ‘It: Chapter 2’

/0 Comments/in , , /by

We announced just yesterday that James Ransone (Sinister, Sinister 2) was cast as the adult Eddie Kaspbrak for It: Chapter 2 joining the cast that already includes Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and Bill Hader as the adult versions of Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough and Richie Tozier respectively (and of course Bill Skarsgård returning as that fun clown, Pennywise).

Late yesterday afternoon, Variety announced that Andy Bean has been added to the cast to play the adult version of Stanley Uris, the Losers Club’s resident skeptic. Bean was recently in the HBO series Here and Now alongside Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter and also had a role in 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight. read more

‘It: Chapter 2’ Casts James Ransone as Latest Adult Member of the Losers Club

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Slowly but surely the adult members of the “Losers Club” for It: Chapter 2 are coming together. Deadline announced this morning that James Ransone has been cast as the adult Eddie Kaspbrak in the sequel to 2017’s wildly popular It. James Ransone recently finished filming Season 1 of the Hulu series The First with Sean Penn but horror fans may recognize him from Sinister, Sinister 2 and Spike Lee’s 2013 reboot of Oldboy.

Ransone joins a cast that features a returning Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown, James McAvoy as adult Bill Denbrough, Jessica Chastain as adult Beverly Marsh and Bill Hader as adult Richie “Beep Beep” Tozier. If they follow the Stephen King novel, the sequel will take place 27 years after the first film with the kids being summoned back to Derry to deal with the returning evil. read more

John Lithgow Will Portray Jud Crandall in ‘Pet Sematary’ Remake

/0 Comments/in , /by

According to a report from EW, John Lithgow will play friendly country neighbor Jud Crandall in the new film adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.

Lithgow will join actor Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) in the film (which is set to be released on April 19, 2019) who has already been cast as Louis Creed, the unfortunate father of the tragic and frightening story.

As EW points out “The role of Jud Crandall was previously played by the late Fred Gwynne in the 1989 adaptation of King’s novel. At 72, Lithgow is a decade younger than the character of Jud, who was 83 in the book, but a decade older than Gwynne, who was only 62 at the time he played the role.”  All horror fans also remember Gwynne as the lovable patriarch of the Munster Family, Herman Munster.  The new version of the film will be directed by the Starry Eyes team, Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch, with a script by Jeff Buhler (Nightflyers.) read more

James Wan and Roy Lee to Remake Stephen King’s ‘The Tommyknockers’

/0 Comments/in , , /by

In an exclusive report by The Hollywood Reporter, James Wan and Roy Lee (the producer of It, Bates Motel)  are poised to remake Stephen King’s The Tommyknockers.  Wan and Lee are also joined by Larry Sanitsky, who executive produced the original 1993 TV miniseries adaptation of The Tommyknockers.

Sanitsky described the story as “…an allegorical tale of addiction (Stephen was struggling with his own at the time), the threat of nuclear power, the danger of mass hysteria and the absurdity of technical evolution run amuck. All are as relevant today as the day the novel was written. It is also a tale about the eternal power of love and the grace of redemption.” read more

‘The Dark Tower’ in Development as a TV Series for Amazon?

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Last summer, the world was (mis)treated to Nikolaj Arcel’s vision of Stephen King’s “Gunslinger” series in The Dark Tower.  While the work of  Idris Elba as “Gunslinger” Roland Deschain and Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black was fantastic, they could not save what was mainly an attempt at dumbing down King’s opus to make a Percy Jackson-esque teenage adventure film.

But..I digress. The news here is that, while there were always talks of intertwining multiple films with a television series to try and capture the breadth of the Gunslinger’s world, it appears that the awfulness of the first film has not killed off the possibility of seeing a television series…kind of. read more

Mike Flanagan to Direct ‘The Shining’ Sequel ‘Doctor Sleep’

/0 Comments/in , /by

38 years after Stanley Kubrick’s legendary adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining redefined horror filmmaking, Warner Bros. finally is ready to bring the franchise back to the silver screen! The studio plans to adapt King’s 2013 novel, Doctor Sleep, into a major motion picture and they’ve just hired Mike Flanagan to direct the film.

The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Flanagan is set to direct, following his adaptation of King’s Gerald’s Game for Netflix. Flanagan is also known for fan favorite films such as Oculus, Hush, and Ouija: Origin of Evil. read more

Horror Novelist Jack Ketchum Dead at 71

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Horror News Network is sad to report the news of Jack Ketchum’s untimely death at the age of 71.

The news was reported today on Ketchum’s official twitter page today by his webmaster.

As a teenager, Ketchum was mentored by Psycho author Robert Bloch and eventually made a name for himself in the early 1980’s with such novels as Off-Season and The Girl Next Door.  The author was known for his realistic and terrifying fiction, staying away from the supernatural, and instead focusing on maniacs and terrible displays of human nature.  Many of his novels were turned into films and his short story “The Box” was recently adapted by director Jovanka Vuckovic’s  in the horror anthology XX. read more

‘Dexter’s’ Michael C. Hall to Narrate ‘Pet Sematary’ Audiobook

/0 Comments/in , , /by

Entertainment Weekly broke the news today that the star of Dexter, Michael C. Hall, will narrate Stephen King’s 1983 novel Pet Sematary.

Stephen King said in a statement that “Readers have been asking for this audiobook for a very long time.  I know the listening experience will be worth the wait with Michael as narrator.”

Simon & Schuster Audio president and publisher Chris Lynch was also happy to share the news, saying that the company was “…thrilled to finally bring Pet Sematary to King’s audiobook fans.  Michael C. Hall is a perfect match for this timeless story, which has long deserved an unabridged production.” read more