Stephen King Continues To Stump For 'Doctor Sleep' As Analysts Predict Film Will Lose $30 Million For WB

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Going into the weekend, no one predicted that Roland Emmerich’s poorly-reviewed historical action film “Midway” would win the box office crown. Many just assumed that, fresh off another huge “It” film, the Stephen King adaptation “Doctor Sleep” would easily defeat the other films. Well, that was far from the case, as the sequel to “The Shining” failed to excite fans, as the film opened to a pretty damn low box office debut. And apparently, now that we can predict the film’s box office future more accurately, Warner Bros. is probably going to take a sizeable hit.

According to Deadline, “Doctor Sleep” will likely lose anywhere from $20 million to $30+ million for Warner Bros. after everything is all said and done. The variance in the number has to do with the final global take of the film, which many assume will be around $100 million. However, if “Doctor Sleep” continues to underperform, and hits $80 million globally, the studio could lose more than $30 million.

READ MORE: ‘Doctor Sleep’ Is A Box Office Snooze As Roland Emmerich’s ‘Midway’ Shocks The World

Needless to say, this isn’t good news for WB, director Mike Flanagan, and author Stephen King, who all had high hopes for the horror film. Hell, the film even hints that there could be more stories to tell in “The Shining” universe. But now that “Doctor Sleep” isn’t doing what it was expected to do financially, the studio probably just wants to escape with as little damage as possible.

King, on the other hand, is taking it to Twitter to continue to promote the film, encouraging folks to check it out while it’s in theaters.

“I mostly write books and hope for the best,” tweeted King. “Box office numbers aside, Mike Flanagan’s film is excellent. If people choose not to go, that is their choice, but when something is good, I cheer for it.”

READ MORE: ‘Doctor Sleep’: Mike Flanagan Attempts To Honor Both Kubrick & King In This Mediocre Blockbuster [Review]

He also tweeted a comment about the film’s box office disappointment, after a fan posted a tweet imploring others to champion the film.

“Agree. It’s a terrific movie. Take a friend and dig the vibe,” wrote King.

Obviously, money aside, it’s clear that the author wants “Doctor Sleep” to be a success. For months leading up to the film’s release, he has been talking about how the film is exactly what he wanted it to be, and he went so far as to say that the finished product “redeemed” Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” in his eyes. And for a film with that much adoration from the writer to land with a big box office thud isn’t great. But as I explained more in my Box Office report, outside of the two recent “It” films, King’s box office history is spotty, to say the least.

READ MORE: Stephen King Says Everything He Disliked In Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ Is “Redeemed” In ‘Doctor Sleep’

Sadly, for King and Flanagan, at least, it appears that “Doctor Sleep” will go down in history as that box office bomb that attempted to be a sequel to “The Shining.”

But hey, if you want to support the film, go check out “Doctor Sleep” in theaters now.