The trailer for the prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing has just been released. And while I understand the director has taken precautions to mimic Carpenter’s work so that it does appear as a prequel and blend into the original, I don’t see enough of a difference so far between the two that makes this film not look like a straight remake. Really, if this were a prequel to The Thing, why then is it titled The Thing? My guess is they wanted to give audiences a reason to see it. A straight remake of these types of movies, especially monster movies, are just too similar to the original. This trailer also looks like a mashup of Whiteout and 30 Days of Night. Check out the minimalistic (to say the least) poster below the video. What do you think?
Even though it is technically a remake, Carpenter’s movie is actually a more faithful adaptation of the novella “Who Goes There?” (which inspired the 1951 film w/ James Arness as the Thing). I’m looking forward to the prequel too. I just don’t like knowing they all die going into it. Maybe the writers have figured a way around that problem.
John Carpenter’s “original?” I’ll take Sci-Fi movies from the 50s for 500, Alex. And Carpenter’s movie was terrific but it had relentless, annoying flaws. Starting with a guy with a high-powered rifle who can’t hit a dog sitting still right under his helicopter. Or a bunch of characters no one cared about (besides Kurt Russell’s, maybe Keith David’s) … or that ending where they’re just haphazardly blowing up a bunch of rooms in their own station to stop the thing from freezing in the ice with no idea whether it was just laughing its ass off from outside as it watched them. Still one of the best movie monsters ever, though. Kudos to Rob Bottin. Looking forward to the prequel.
Hey genius, it’s a prequel not a remake. Maybe you should learn to read before you criticize people who make a lot more money than you do.
I’m so sick of all these remakes. Doesn’t anyone in Hollywood have creativity these days? This remake is especially pointless because there is no way this film will top John Carpenter’s original.