10 Horror Movie Flops That NOBODY Saw Coming

Though Stanley Kubrick's The Shining had a mixed reaction upon its initial release, the Stephen King adaptation has since become a cinematic milestone.

So, when it was announced the sequel, Doctor Sleep, was being adapted to the big screen, it was hard not to get excited. 

Although nobody realistically expected the film to be on the same level as its predecessor, Doctor Sleep sounded deeply promising, since it was helmed by horror auteur, Mike Flanagan, and had Ewan McGregor playing the lead.

Despite receiving positive reviews, Doctor Sleep flopped hard. It was released after Halloween, missing the peak horror season and got beat by Sonic the Hedgehog, which came out the same day.

Even though The Shining is a classic, it was released nearly 40 years earlier, so many younger viewers struggled to gravitate towards the sequel. The 150-minute runtime may have also contributed to Doctor Sleep's failure, considering horror flicks tend to be significantly shorter. 

In the end, the unsettling drama only earned $72 million on a budget of $55 million, which is very low for a major studio release tied to an iconic property.