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Despite being under "the most pressure" he's ever experienced, director Mike Flanagan reveals how they also had fun on the spooky set.
The cast and crew of "Doctor Sleep" were lucky enough to visit one of the most iconic locations in horror history: the Overlook Hotel.
Fans of Stanley Kubrick's 1979 "The Shining" were blown away when the first trailer for the long-awaited sequel was released last week, showing how director Mike Flanagan and co. painstakingly recreated the sets for new scenes. The movie sees Ewan McGregor stepping into the now-adult shoes of survivor Danny Torrance.
"I'm totally freaking out over the online reactions, I'm glad everybody's exciting about it," Flanagan told TooFab on the red carpet at the MTV Movie and TV Awards, where his Netflix series, "The Haunting of Hill House," was up for Best Show.
"I've always been terrified of this movie and it's the most pressure I've ever been under," he explained, something wife/"Hill House" star Kate Siegel confirmed. "He paces around the house worried about it," she said, before joking, "One day I opened up a word document and it said 'All work and no play makes Mike a dull boy.'"
Saying the opportunity to helm the movie is "absolutely the coolest thing that has ever happened to me in my career," Flanagan -- who was wearing a shirt with Jack Nicholson's face on it -- also shared how they all let loose in the halls of the Overlook during filming.
"It was incredible," he explained, "We actually had an adult-sized Big Wheel that was made for the crew members and cast members to ride around the hotel." Victoria Pedretti, who played Nell on "Hill House," said she even stopped by the set and went for a ride.
"I had this very weird year last year, because I woke up in January in the lobby of Hill House and then ended my year in the Overlook Hotel," added Flanagan. "So I've kind of had the ultimate fan boy year."
Though the movie comes with a built-in microscope on it, Flanagan said it was unavoidable for a number of reasons.
"The pressure comes not only from the Stephen King world as a fan of his, which I've been since I was a kid, but also as a film student and lover of cinema and someone who's really scrutinized Stanley Kubrick's work," Flanagan explained.
"I don't know if I've ever had pressure like I've had on his project," he continued. "It was clear from the beginning it was always going to be that way, there was no version where it wouldn't be unbearably rough. I'm standing on the shoulders of giants and I hope it goes okay and people like it."
The movie hits theaters November 8, 2019.
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