Posted on 11/11/2019 11:06:24 AM PST by EdnaMode
One week after “Motherless Brooklyn” disappointed the box office, Warner Bros. has yet another flop in the form of “Doctor Sleep.” The Mike Flanagan-directed horror film based on Stephen King’s “The Shining” sequel was tracking for a debut in the $25 million range, but its opening weekend came in well below that mark with a dismal $14 million total. While “Doctor Sleep’s” $50 million production is a saving grace, Deadline reports the film is expected to lose between $20 million and $30 million for Warner Bros.
“Doctor Sleep” now joins “The Goldfinch,” “Gemini Man,” and “Terminator: Dark Fate” as one of the fall’s big studio tentpole flops, but that’s not how King wants it to be remembered.
Amidst headlines over the weekend bringing attention to “Doctor Sleep” bombing at the box office, King took to social media to share a defense of the film. Author Matt Serafini encouraged “Doctor Sleep” admirers to share positive thoughts online to drown out the negativity of the movie’s box office.
“If you liked ‘Doctor Sleep don’t spend the weekend moping over box office,” Serafini wrote. “Talk about the film, what you dug, and inspire others to check it out. Let your championship be meaningful that way. Don’t let everyone’s hard work be immediately reduced to and defined by numbers.” King shared Serafini’s opinion with his own 5.5 million followers, adding, “Agree. It’s a terrific movie. Take a friend and dig the vibe.”
King was originally hesitant to allow Flanagan to direct “Doctor Sleep.” The filmmaker’s pitch was to adapt King’s novel while including some of the iconography made famous in Stanley’s Kubrick’s “The Shining” film adaptation. King has never supported Kubrick’s film, so he was understandably cagey about letting Flanagan recreate Kubrick’s version of settings like the Overlook Hotel. Not only did the two find common ground for the film to move forward, but King has since become a champion of “Doctor Sleep.”
King continued to champion “Doctor Sleep” in the wake of the box office numbers by tweeting, “I mostly write books and hope for the best. Box office numbers aside, Mike Flanagan’s film is excellent. If people choose not to go, that is their choice, but when something is good, I cheer for it.”
“Doctor Sleep” is the year’s third high profile Stephen King film following “Pet Sematary” and “It Chapter Two.” The film is now playing in theaters nationwide.
I think we can start with the dumb name for a movie - named after the book or not.
It is a problem when you’re giving money to people that hate you, hate your values and hate everything our country has stood for and are enriching them to do everything against you and to tear down that country.
Is this the first Stanley Kubrick film to have a sequel made?
They did it to Alfred Hitchcock as well with a half dozen unnecessary Psycho sequel and prequel projects.
2010 was the sequel to 2001.
Doctor Sleep was good. Not great.
I saw Once Upon A Time In Hollywood this year. For free at a preview screening (and it wasn’t crowded, but maybe that was just the promo team).
I’d have to think sometime to arrive at the last movie I paid to see in a theater that wasn’t at a museum.
Nothing like that at the theaters these days. Although it would be interesting. You might find that on youtube and it would be free and you could watch it from the comfort of your living room.
“...please clap”
Shakespeare he is not.
90% of life is failure. Like shooting an arrow, there is no significant difference in effort between making a miss or a bullseye. Making movies is a highly visible and expensive example of this law of the universe. But for everything in life, failure is the rule, success the exception. It takes an unshakable faith to keep going in the face of crushing odds. Most people are not culturally equipped to do it, which is why they are not out there starting businesses, fighting evil, paying the price for freedom, exercising their God given talents, or creating new things.
Christian faith is an example of a useful and significant competitive advantage available to everyone. Just like all scientific models and theories, it is a simplification of the real world, a tool to make sense of the chaos, so it is certain to be wrong on some level and therefore easy to reject. But the price of rejection is giving up in frustration and a life of complete and total failure.
Stephen King "hopes for the best", but does not purify his soul to deserve it. Well, if it doesn't work out, he can always hit the bottle.
Didn’t see it. I slept in instead.
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