Speaking with Shock Til You Drop, Joel Edgerton - who stars in next week's The Thing, the prequel of the John Carpenter film of the same name - talks about the creature sequences in the film, saying that there was 'a lot of stuff to play with' and that there was an effort to put as much physical FX into the film as possible. He also says that it stays true to the Carpenter artistic taste, as well as praising the film as a 'great' set-up to the original.
The FX are a tremendous part of The Thing equation. Was there something tangible for you to play off of on set when it came to the creature sequences? Surprisingly, there was a lot of stuff to play with. There was a concerted effort to put as much physical FX in the film as possible. We live in a day and age where entire films are green screened and where legions of creatures are created in computer. Because Carpenter's film was such a template for the filmmakers here, they wanted to create a film that could sit hand-in-hand with Carpenter's film aesthetically. There was an effort to us practical FX while not denying modern technology, so you've got a percentage of both. I'm not sure what the final percentage will boil down to, but there was stuff to play with physically.
Do you agree a prequel was the right direction to go rather than a sequel? For me, what makes the film special – and I'm a bit skeptical about the world of movie-making right now that's so focused on movie sequels and remakes and prequels – is that I think this prequel is well-earned. Because it was so important this film stays true to the Carpenter aesthetic. Not a lot of thought goes into some remakes and sequels. I feel the studios or filmmakers randomly pluck a random, tenuous connection out of the air to create a whole movie from. I feel there was such a great set-up in the Carpenter film – what happened to the Norwegian camp? I feel this prequel opens up an episode that was waiting to be told. There's a nice familiarity to the Carpenter version, I think people will enjoy it, but at the same time it tells its own tale with a new set of characters. I don't think I'm giving away a spoiler, but in this film you get to have a sense of an origin and you get more with the [alien's] ship.
For more from Edgerton, click the link below.
The Thing hits theaters October 14th!
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