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.
McGregor’s high-profile casting demonstrates the lucrative possibilities for recent horror hits. Warner Bros. knows “there’s gold in them thar hills” after audiences went wild over last fall’s It, and the casting of such a big name (for this project and for It: Chapter 2) shows the studio’s confidence in the project’s potential for mainstream box office success.
Doctor Sleep will hit theaters on January 24, 2020, and we should learn more casting details as production begins to ramp up in the coming months. Stay tuned to Horror News Network for more details on this exciting project as they break!
