The sequel to The Shining finally has a release date: Doctor Sleep, an adaptation of Stephen King's follow-up novel, will be out on 24 January 2020.

Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Gerald's Game) takes over in the director's chair from Stanley Kubrick. The original script was written by Akiva Goldsman, who also wrote I Am Legend, The Dark Tower, and, erm, The Da Vinci Code, and has reportedly been rewritten by Flanagan.

This will be something of a passion project for the director. After working on the King adaptation Gerald's Game, he was asked late last year which King novel he wanted to adapt most and picked out Doctor Sleep. Hopefully King's a little more impressed with Doctor Sleep than he was Kubrick's film, which he famously despises, not least for the way it changed the ending to his book.

The story's set years after the events of The Shining, and follows a middle-aged, still-traumatised Danny Torrance whose anger problems and alcoholism echo his dad Jack's issues. He sets about sorting out his drinking and heads to a small town in New Hampshire for a fresh start.

If that doesn't sound very Stephen King-ish, don't worry. Weird stuff soon starts kicking off. His psychic abilities resurface, and he connects with a 12-year-old girl, Abra Stone. Abra is being menaced by a gang of paranormal wrong 'uns led my a man called Rose the Hat, and it's up to Danny to sort things out.

See? Much more King-ish.