8 Crazy Movie Sequels That Almost Happened That We Just Found Out About

Mike Flanagan famously got the approval of Stephen King and created in Doctor Sleep (2019) a Shining sequel that honoured and tied together King's novels and Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), but this was only the tip of the iceberg for the director.

While Doctor Sleep has its flaws, it nonetheless proved that there is still fertile ground in the shadow of the Overlook Hotel, and with this in mind Flanagan had his sights set on a third film that would tell the story of Dick Halloran, taking place pre-Shining as the character is killed by Jack Torrance before the credits roll.

Suitably entitled Shine, the film would have shown Halloran's childhood communicating telepathically with his grandmother, as mentioned in The Shining, and would chart the character's journey to the Overlook. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. were not happy with Doctor Sleep's box office performance and, after a few years of hanging on, officially shut the door on the idea in recent months, with Flanagan taking to Twitter to lament the opportunity's passing.