Stephen King film adaptions are tricky beasts because there really isn’t a middle ground.  You have films such as IT, which had a budget of $35 million but brought in over $700 million, and IT: Chapter Two, which had an increased budget of $79 million and has currently brought in around $450 million, or you have the flip side and have King adaptions such as Dark Tower with a budget of $66 million, but only brought in $113 million.  It’s often hard to tell where on the spectrum new Stephen King adaptions will fit in.  With the legendary film that is The Shining, many felt that the sequel, Doctor Sleep, would bring similar success since it was heading back to the Overlook Hotel and had a strong lead in the form of Ewan McGregor.

But, if the opening weekend is anything to go by (which it usually is)…we were wrong.  At this point in time, the film looks like it will fall in with the likes of Dark Tower rather than the success of IT. Even with its good reviews, the film was only tracking to make between $25-$30 million in its opening weekend, but actually performed much worse.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film only took in $14.1 million domestically behind Midway ($17.5 million), which also had a disappointing opening. The outlet goes on to state that the 151-minute runtime may have been a detriment to younger generations who may not be familiar with The Shining.

RELATED: Ewan McGregor Says Shining Sequel Doctor Sleep Will Remain Faithful To The Novel

Yikes…so maybe the key now is to find the balance between what the various movie-going demographics may be familiar with.  Jeff Bock from Exhibitor Relations suggested that, “The Shining, despite being a cult classic, just doesn’t have traction with younger audiences. Thirty-nine years was just too long between sequels.” 

Will you be checking out Dr. Sleep?  Do you think it can recoup some of the costs it took to make the film?  Or was it merely poor timing for the film to be released?  Leave your thoughts in the usual spot, and thanks for reading!

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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