The cast of Doctor Sleep is expanding with some familiar characters and a Westworld star. The interest in adapting Stephen King novels is back at an all-time high. Although plenty of films and TV shows have previously been created around his books, the success of IT reinvigorated Hollywood's interest - right after some thought The Dark Tower could've destroyed it. Several King adaptations have been announced in the months since, such as a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

The film is being directed by Mike Flanagan (who most recently helmed fellow-King adaptation Gerald's Game for Netflix). Ewan McGregor is set to star as an older Danny Torrance, which shifted the focus towards filling out the supporting cast. The film now has three new cast members, including two who will play characters from The Shining.

Deadline reports Alex Escoe and Carl Lumbly will each play iconic characters from The Shining. Essoe, who is best known for her work in Starry Eyes and Midnighters, will play Danny's mother Wendy Torrance, who was previously played by Shelley Duvall. Lumbly recently finished a stint on Supergirl and will now play Dick Halloran, who was previously played by Scatman Crothers. Additionally, Variety reports that Westworld season 2 star Zahn McClarnon has joined the project as Crow Daddy.


Although Doctor Sleep picks up several decades after the events of The Shining, bringing back Wendy Torrance and Dick Halloran is still possible. King's novel features plenty of flashbacks, which is surely the direction Flanagan is heading considering Essoe and Lumbly are close in age to Duvall and Crothers when they worked on The Shining. These flashback scenes shouldn't be a problem for Wendy, but Kubrick's film did stray from the source material and kill Halloran, or so we thought. Depending on how many flashbacks are used, there's also the chance that someone else will be cast as a child Danny Torrance, and maybe even a younger Jack - who was famously played by Jack Nicholson in the movie.

The addition of McClarnon is a much easier one to make sense of, and is exciting after his standout role in season 2 of HBO's hit show. Crow Daddy is a villain of the film as the right-hand man of Doctor Sleep's main antagonist Rose the Hat. Mission: Impossible - Fallout star Rebecca Ferguson is going to play the role of the leader of The True Knot, so she'll share plenty of screen time with McClarnon. With both of them locked in for the sequel, it remains to be seen if the group's other four members - Barry the Chink, Grandpa Flick, Snakebite Andi, and Silent Sarey - are included. Either way, there's still more roles to fill for Doctor Sleep that can continue to add to the film's great cast.

Doctor Sleep will hit theaters January 24, 2020.