Horror author Stephen King isn’t worried about Doctor Sleep’s low box office numbers. King is the author of the 1977 book The Shining, which he wrote a sequel to in 2013. Now five years later, the film adaptation of the best-selling book has hit theaters. Unfortunately for horror fans, Doctor Sleep failed to make a significant impact at the box office last weekend.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is often considered one of the best horror films ever made, so when it was announced that Mike Flanagan was adapting Doctor Sleep, fans were more than ready to see the sequel to the 1980 film. Despite the excitement from long-time horror fans, Doctor Sleep didn’t perform as well as it was expected to. Doctor Sleep made around $14.1 million this past weekend, which wasn’t even enough to beat out Midway for the top spot at the box office. Warner Bros. was no doubt hoping to make more with Doctor Sleep, but King isn’t worried about the film’s box office performance.
After seeing Doctor Sleep, author Matt Serafini praised the film on Twitter, but he more recently posted about the movie’s box office performance. Serafini commented on the low box office numbers and suggested people not define the film by how well it is doing at the box office. After seeing the author’s comment, King himself retweeted his post, saying that he agreed and suggested people “take a friend and dig the vibe.” Both author’s tweets can be seen below:
Early reviews for Doctor Sleep praised the film for managing to be a sequel to both King’s book and Kubrick’s movie. However, now that the film has gotten a wide release, Doctor Sleep reviews have become a bit more mixed. While fans and critics have differing opinions about the movie, King has praised Doctor Sleep, even going as far as saying, “Everything that I ever disliked about the Kubrick version of The Shining is redeemed for me here.” Everyone is of course free to have their own opinions about Doctor Sleep, but getting King’s seal of approval no doubt says something about the quality of the project.
Doctor Sleep isn’t doing as well at the box office as projected, but Warner Bros. will still likely turn a profit since Doctor Sleep didn’t cost a ton to make. It’s also worth mentioning that Doctor Sleep is echoing the box office performance of The Shining. When The Shining first came out, is also got mixed reviews and didn’t do fantastic at the box office. With all that in mind, Doctor Sleep is still at the beginning of its box office run, so there is plenty of time for Warner Bros. to make money and for the film to get more favorable reviews.
More: Why Doctor Sleep’s Reviews Are So Mixed
Source: Matt Serafini, Stephen King
