Director Mike Flanagan reacts to one of Stephen King’s predictions about Doctor Sleep coming true. Doctor Sleep is a 2019 sequel to the classic Stanley Kubrick film The Shining, starring a leading cast including Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Zahn McCarlnon, and Emily Alyn Lind. It is directed and written by genre auteur Flanagan, who has been considered a master of horror for a number of years.

Taking to Twitter, Flanagan reacts to one of King’s predictions about Doctor Sleep coming true. According to the Doctor Sleep director, King had said that “time would be kind to Doctor Sleep” after its lackluster opening weekend box office.

Proving this message to be true, Flanagan posted a link to a Hollywood Reporter article naming the 15 best movie sequels of the last 20 years, a list on which Doctor Sleep appeared. Flanagan wrote that he “love[s] that it continues to find and build its audience half a decade later.” He went on to say that the film is “close to [his] heart.”

Doctor Sleep’s Initial Response Explained

Doctor Sleep Struggled At The Box Office

Doctor Sleep holds a prestigious spot on the Hollywood Reporter list. Also included in the rankings are stellar visual feats such as Avatar: The Way of Water, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Not only did Doctor Sleep manage to make it on the list in the first place, but it did so in high prestige as it is no. 5 on the list overall. The only films ranked above it were Across the Spider-Verse, Creed, The Dark Knight and Mad Max: Fury Road.

In Flanagan’s post, he mentions Doctor Sleep‘s “disappointing opening weekend at the box office.” The sequel did in fact suffer at the box office during its opening, making only $14.1 million during its first weekend. As a $45 million budget project and a sequel to such an iconic horror film, this initial sum was considered to be fairly low. Overall, Doctor Sleep made just $72.3 million at the worldwide box office, likely indicating that the film just barely turned a profit overall.

That said, Doctor Sleep has always had a dedicated following. This fan base includes King himself, who has been consistently supportive of the vision behind Flanagan’s adaptation, and vouched for the longevity of Doctor Sleep‘s recognition. Despite its box office underperformance, Doctor Sleep‘s reviews were fairly positive, receiving a 78% approval among critics and an 89% among audiences. As the most recent best sequel list indicates, the love for Doctor Sleep has indeed grown over time, fulfilling King’s prophecy and making Flanagan’s wishes come true.

Source: Mike Flanagan / Twitter