No, you’re not going crazy. Ewan McGregor is going to play Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep, a direct sequel to The Shining. As you can imagine, the fine people of Twitter didn’t quite know what to make of it. To tell you the truth, neither do I.
First up, here’s the story: Variety (opens in new tab) are reporting that Ewan McGregor is the lead in Doctor Sleep, an adaptation of Stephen King’s 2013 sequel to The Shining. In it, Danny Torrance is all grown-up and is just a little bit out of whack thanks to, y’know, his dad trying to murder him and his mother all those years ago. That tends to mess you up just a little bit. Or so I’ve heard. For the avoidance of doubt: this isn’t a cash grab of a sequel… it’s just very, very weird. So, how did the internet react? Let’s find out!
Some are just straight-up confused.
EWEN MCGREGOR IS GONNA BE IN THE DOCTOR SLEEP MOVIE WTFFFF14 June 2018
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I never read Doctor Sleep and have no idea what to think of this?13 June 2018
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Where others are all-in on the casting announcement…
In weirdest news of the week, (it is only Thursday I suppose) Ewan McGregor is to play a middle aged Danny Torrance in sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep. Here he will try to shed his alcoholism, after he meets a girl with the strong shining powers and must confront his demons pic.twitter.com/3pDJq7Es5F14 June 2018
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Interesting casting choice that @mcgregor_ewan is playing Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep. I know he will do a good job. #casting #DoctorSleep #theshining14 June 2018
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The world could have never asked for something better! Stephen King and Ewan McGregor!!! @mcgregor_ewan is going to play Danny Torrance in Doctor Sleep, and I’m so freaking excited!!14 June 2018
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Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance is honestly a brilliant casting choice. I’m even more excited about Dr. Sleep now than I was before.14 June 2018
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Even though I really wanted Charlie Hunnam for the role of Danny Torrance in #DoctorSleep, i’m completely ok with Ewan McGregor being cast.14 June 2018
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ewan mcgregor playing danny torrence in doctor sleep? he’s going to be amazing14 June 2018
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…Even if there’s one or two naysayers out there.
I might be a terrible book, it might be a great book, but Ewan McGregor isn’t Danny Torrance either way.14 June 2018
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Personally, I think Ewan McGregor can pretty much pull off any role he wants so I’m happy with that. He can do crazy, conflicted, and oh-so-much more than that. In fact, he’s probably one of the most underrated actors of our time. Let’s just hope Adult Danny gets enough play to go with his work. And, for the love of god, don’t let him near typewriters, mazes, or identical twin sisters.
What does everyone else think? Be sure to let us know in the comments!