Interested in what's happening with the prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing? Well read on to see what Moviehole ran earlier...
Anyone’s that been in viewing distance of my horror tower (yes, I have categorized DVD shelves at home) knows just how much of a woody I have for John Carpenter. There’s more shelf-space dedicated to the man there, than there is, well, cobwebs – and that’s saying something; ask my underpaid but under-performing cleane - and David Lynch (er, maybe).
Be it “Halloween”, “The Thing”, “Big Trouble in Little China”, “Christine”, or “They Live” Carpenter’s proved time and time again what a fantastic writer, filmmaker, composer (his “Big Trouble” theme is a corker!) and, dare I say it, entrepreneur he is. I guess you could say Carpenter is my era’s Robert Rodriguez – a man with enough creativity and skills that Hollywood doesn’t mind if he goes against the grain now and then; even getting paid for his rebellious nature.
Well, they use to pay Carpenter to do what he does best.
You see Carpenter’s had a hard few years. Seems the studio system aren’t that interested in him anymore – poor takings on 90s efforts "Vampires" and "Ghosts of Mars" didn't help - which is a pity, because he’s undoubtedly got some great ideas ready to throw in the crock pot. One of the projects he unsuccessfully attempted to bring to screens was a follow-up to his 80s masterpiece “The Thing”. Every time Carpenter brought it up with Universal, they turned away. Not at all interested.
Or so they made out.
A year or two later and the studio is about to get production on - yep, you guessed it! - a prequel to Carpenter's "The Thing".
Production Weekly reports that it kicks off it’s shoot in Canada this March.
Carpenter (aside from the obligatory producing credit) isn’t involved; instead Uni have hired Matthijs van Heijningen (who!?) to direct the film, and Ronald D. Moore (“Batttlestar Galactica” – Hell Yeah!) and Eric Heisserer (Platinum Dunes' ‘’A Nightmare on Elm Street’’ – Hell No!) to pen it.
But still, despite Carpenter’s snubbing, I remain optimistic (though not because the remakes of Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13" and "The Fog" turned out for the best - they, er, didn't). There is, after all, a story to be told here. Let’s just hope Heijningen's flick plays both homage and respect to the 1982 film – and doesn’t, like some other unmentionable follow-ups, shit all over it.
Meanwhile, Carpenter is knee-deep in production on a new film of his own, "The Ward", starring hottie Amber Heard.
In this month's FHM, Heard ("The Pineapple Express") remarked that she "loves working with a director like [Carpenter] because I feel like I can trust him. He's a genius in his own right, he's definitely good at his job, and it feels really good to work with someone like that".