John Carpenter’s The Thing Prequel Gets a Director?
We’ve been hearing for a while now that a prequel and/or remake to John Carpenter’s The Thing might be happening, and that a script for the movie had already been written by Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore. I’m sure John Carpenter fans will have mixed feelings about this, but after a year or two of waiting, it appears that the project is now finally a go. Some solid details about the story have started to leak out, in addition to the name of a possible director for the flick.
According to the folks over at Bloody Disgusting, the movie is definitely not a remake, and can loosely be characterized as a prequel in the sense that it tells what happened “from the Norwegian camp’s point of view”. There is also a possibility that the main character may end up being the brother of Macready (Kurt Russell’s character in the original), although I don’t see how that makes sense. Unless he is Norwegian?
The man who is in talks to take the helm is a young Dutch director by the name of Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. He comes from a TV commercial background, and his only other previous credits include a short film called Red Rain and the direct-to-video flick Zien. He is also apparently signed to direct Zack Snyder’s upcoming Army of the Dead. I’ve embedded a couple of van Heijningen’s commercials below (one of which could very well be a teaser trailer for the film). Given that this doesn’t seem to be a remake after all, are you excited about the idea? Can this movie come close to matching John Carpenter’s classic 1982 creature feature?
Comments (8)
I’m even more excited that it’s not a remake! A prequel from the Norwegian camp sounds fantastic. I’m totally looking forward to hearing more about this.
Posted by Rachel on January 19th, 2009It’s good that it’s not a remake but you have wonder if the Norwegian side of the story isn’t almost exactly the same as the other one.
Posted by swarez on January 19th, 2009It would be cool if they would end the film where the original began, with the last Norwegian getting shot. But that thing about Kurt Russel’s brother is just retarded.
Posted by swarez on January 19th, 2009It’s a good sign that Ronald D. Moore is associated with this, but I’m a little confused about what they plan to do with the story. I mean, the story or back-story of the alien itself isn’t what’s great about the original. And yeah, I’m swarez, the brother thing doesn’t make sense and it’s unnecessary anyways. How is it going to end up being anything other than basically the original, a bunch of dudes stuck in an isolated facility with a monster killing them one by one? Meh.
Posted by Joel on January 19th, 2009yeah…good that its not a remake. bad that macready’s brother storyline might exist. also bad is why any of this news exists at all. fucking gay! leave it alone!
Posted by Bob The Slob on January 19th, 2009The guy in the Land Rover is a cocksucker – why doesn’t he give the jealous dude a ride home?
Posted by Bas on January 20th, 2009I think that this could be an interesting take on the story; however, the most fearful element within the ‘82 film is that an air of the unknown surrounds the alien menace. The aspect of not knowing who is real or replica will definitely still be there, but I don’t think that it could ever reach the extent of Carpenter’s film. Also, if they do attempt to tie in a member of the Norwegian camp as being a relative of Macready is complete and utter nonsense.
Posted by Marcus M on January 27th, 2009I disagree with those who say that the prequel in the Norwegian camp will basically be a retelling of what happened to the Americans. BECAUSE, in the prequel we will have the opportunity of going into the ship. That will be a special-effects person’s DREAM.
Posted by GhodiGirl on July 28th, 2009Leave a Reply