The Thing
It's not human. Yet.
Country
Production
Genre
Budget
$38 000 000
Box office
$31 505 287
Director
Actors
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Paul Braunstein, Trond Espen Seim, Kim Bubbs, Jørgen Langhelle, Jan Gunnar Røise
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Eric Heisserer
Producer
Camera operator
Michel Abramowicz
Composer
Artist
Sean Haworth, Jeremy Stewart
Audition
Denise Chamian, Diane Kerbel, Angela Demo
Editing
Short description
When paleontologist Kate Lloyd travels to an isolated outpost in Antarctica for the expedition of a lifetime, she joins an international team that unearths a remarkable discovery. Their elation quickly turns to fear as they realize that their experiment has freed a mysterious being from its frozen prison. Paranoia spreads like an epidemic as a creature that can mimic anything it touches will pit human against human as it tries to survive and flourish in this spine-tingling thriller.
What's left behind the scenes
- Producers convinced Universal Studios to let them film a prequel to John Carpenter's science fiction film *The Thing* (1982), rather than a remake, believing that Carpenter had made an excellent film, and a remake would be like 'drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa.' The prequel was given the same title as the original film because no one could come up with anything better.
- Actor Dennis Storchøi was cast in one of the roles, but a week after filming began, he went on a drinking binge and was fired. The scenes already filmed with the actor were altered during post-production—Ulrich Thomsen's face was superimposed using digital technology. As for Storchøi, in interviews with Norwegian media, he categorically denied the suggestion that he was fired due to alcohol addiction, claiming instead that he had left the project of his own accord.
- Kim Bubbs nearly fainted while filming the scene of her own scream after transforming into the Thing. Before filming, the director told her that her scream would likely not be included in the movie, but the scream turned out to be so convincing that it was kept in the final cut.
- The special effects needed to bring the alien creature to life were filmed using animatronics at the director's insistence. In case the animatronics didn't look convincing (for example, with the creature's tentacles), computer graphics were planned. However, the audience reaction at previews was such that studio executives ordered the replacement of almost all animatronic special effects with computer graphics.
- The lead character, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, shares more traits not with the protagonist of Carpenter's film played by Kurt Russell, but rather with Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley from the franchise that began with Ridley Scott's horror film 'Alien' (1979).
- The red axe that Joel Edgerton's character drives into the wall is visible in John Carpenter's original film when the Americans arrive at the Norwegian camp.
- The blueprints for the sets of John Carpenter's film were not preserved, and when determining the size of the Norwegian polar station sets to build, the filmmakers used Kurt Russell's height (176 cm) as a reference point.
- Studio representatives constantly interfered with the filming process, and director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. disliked it so much that he stopped making films for nearly a decade. He later returned to filmmaking in Norway, vowing never to work with American movie studios again.
- Studio representatives constantly interfered with the filming process, and director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. disliked it so much that he stopped making films for almost a decade. He subsequently returned to directing films in Norway, vowing to never work with American film studios again.
- There was an unimaginable number of screenshots from the first film on set, to make the Norwegian polar station as close to the original shown in the first film as possible.
- The alien ship was supposed to be revealed in more detail: The initial script featured cameras showing other alien life forms infected by “The Thing,” as well as “Pilots” – aliens who piloted the crashed ship. Thus, instead of the scene where Kate sees a hologram in one of the ship's halls, she was supposed to encounter that very “Pilot,” who had also been assimilated by “The Thing,” and in a fight with him, he is burned and blown up with a grenade. A full-size model was built and all scenes with it were shot, but the producers at some point abandoned this idea to avoid confusing the audience.
- One of the final scenes of the film shows the surviving Norwegian, Lars, chasing after an infected dog along with the helicopter pilot, Matthias. Lars is armed with a German Heckler & Koch HK33 assault rifle, whereas in the 1982 film, this character was armed with a Heckler & Koch HK93A2. The main difference is that the Heckler & Koch HK93A2 is a semi-automatic version of the Heckler & Koch HK33 intended for the civilian market.
- At the end of the film, you can notice Colin, played by Jonathan Walker, with his throat and veins slashed – and he appears exactly like this in the 1982 film. A scene was even filmed where he locks himself in a room, but hearing the approach of the alien creature, he slashes his veins and then cuts his throat. This scene did not make it into the film, but it can be seen in the 'BluRay' edition.
- One of the final scenes in the film shows the surviving Norwegian, Lars, chasing an infected dog alongside helicopter pilot Matthias. Lars is armed with a German Heckler & Koch HK33 submachine gun, while in the 1982 film, this character wielded a Heckler & Koch HK93A2. The main difference is that the Heckler & Koch HK93A2 is a semi-automatic variant of the Heckler & Koch HK33 for the civilian market.
- Ronald D. Moore wrote the first draft of the script back in 2009, but Universal Pictures executives decided to hand the screenplay over to Eric Heisserer for a rewrite. In 2014, Moore became a producer and writer for the series 'Genome,' which featured a similar plot (a team of scientists at a polar research station battles a deadly virus that would destroy all of humanity if released).
- No set drawings from John Carpenter's film survived, so when determining the scale for the Norwegian polar station sets, the filmmakers used Kurt Russell's height (176 cm) as a point of reference.
- Despite the film being set in Antarctica, British Columbia served as the filming location.
- At the end of the film, Colin, played by Jonathan Walker, can be seen with his throat and veins slit—appearing exactly as he does in the 1982 film. A scene was even filmed in which he locks himself in a room, but upon hearing the approach of the alien creature, slits his veins and then cuts his own throat. This scene did not make it into the film but can be seen in the Blu-ray edition.
- Ronald D. Moore wrote the first draft of the screenplay back in 2009, but the executives at Universal Pictures decided to give the script to Eric Heisserer for revisions. In 2014, Moore became a producer and writer for the series "Helix," which has a similar plot (a team of scientists at a polar research station fights a deadly virus that, if released, will destroy all of humanity).
- Actor Dennis Storhøi was cast in one of the roles, but after a week of filming, he went on a drinking binge and was fired. Scenes already filmed with the actor were altered during post-production – Ulrich Thomsen's face was digitally superimposed. Storhøi, in an interview with Norwegian media, vehemently denied the suggestion that he was fired due to alcohol abuse, claiming he left the project of his own accord.
- The film's premiere was originally scheduled for April 15, 2011, but studio executives insisted on reshooting numerous scenes, adding new computer graphics, remounting the footage aiming for a "PG-13" rating (children under 13 are not advised to watch), and completely reshooting the ending. Some scenes were filmed just a couple of weeks before the October 14, 2011 premiere, and work on the computer graphics continued less than 24 hours before the postponed premiere.
- Sam Carter is armed with a Beretta 92FS pistol, which is an anachronism. Beretta did launch the 92 series in 1982, but the 92F/92FS modifications were not available until at least 1983.
- The producers convinced Universal Studios to let them film a prequel to John Carpenter's sci-fi film 'The Thing' (1982) rather than make a remake, as they believed Carpenter had made such an excellent film that a remake would be like 'drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa.' The prequel was given the same title as the original film because no one could think of anything better.
- The main female character, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, shares more similarities not with the film’s protagonist Carpenter, played by Kurt Russell, but rather with Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, from the franchise that began with Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror film “Alien.”
- Kim Babbes almost fainted while filming the scene of her own scream after transforming into The Thing. Before the filming, the director told her that her scream would likely not be included in the film, but her scream was so convincing that it was ultimately left in.
- The red axe that the character played by Joel Edgerton drives into the wall is visible when the Americans arrive at the Norwegian camp in John Carpenter's original film.
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