Horror film remakes are nothing new. After a franchise lays dormant for a few years, Hollywood has the tendency to dust it off and take a new stab at box office glory. Well, it appears that Blumhouse and Universal are set to do that with John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” However, this remake isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill studio rehash. Not by a long shot.
Before we jump into that, it’s important to understand just how this new version of “The Thing” came about. Both the original film “The Thing from Another World” and Carpenter’s “The Thing” were based on the 1938 novella “Who Goes There?” by John W. Campbell. But in 2018, it was discovered that Campbell had a longer, complete novel transcript that had never been seen, titled “Frozen Hell.” A Kickstarter was funded to bring the novel-length version of the story, “Frozen Hell,” to publication, and now, Hollywood is interested in adapting that.
According to a post on the Kickstarter page from the campaign’s founder, John Betancourt, Blumhouse and Universal are fast-tracking the film. And in a now-deleted post on Facebook (via Betancourt’s Kickstarter), Executive Producer Alan Donnes gave even more details:
“It’s OFFICIAL! I received my signed contract and first check! I am Executive Producing a remake of THE THING but with additional chapters of John Campbell’s groundbreaking novel, Frozen Hell, that had been lost for decades.
Now, for the first time ever, Campbell’s full vision will be realized on the big screen. The new film will include the very best of RKO’s THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, John Carpenter’s classic THE THING and both books, Frozen Hell and Who Goes There?”
READ MORE: The Essentials: The Films Of John Carpenter [Full Retrospective]
“The Thing,” particularly the John Carpenter version from 1982, is regarded as one of the very best horror films of all time. Back in 2011, a remake was released starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton, however, that film was far from a critical darling and didn’t necessarily excite horror fans that were hoping for something on par with Carpenter’s vision. But with the long-lost novel as inspiration, perhaps this new version of “The Thing” can do for the franchise what Carpenter was able to do when he remade the ‘50s film “The Thing From Another World.”