Joel Edgerton Discusses The Thing Prequel

Joel Edgerton Discusses The Thing Prequel

The star of the upcoming The Thing prequel gives away a secret about the John Carpenter The Thing movie set and says that the new movie will be true to the original!

By bsprecher - May 03, 2010 01:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Sci-Fi
Source: AICN



The prequel to director John Carpenter's The Thing is currently shooting in Toronto from a script by Battlestar Galactica writer Ronald D. Moore, with director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. at the helm. In a recent interview with AICN, Australian actor Joel Edgerton) (Smokin' Aces; "Owen Lars" to Star Wars fans), who plays a helicopter pilot similar to Kurt Russell's R.J. MacReady, revealed an interest bit of trivia about and said that there will be plenty of nods to Carpenter's 1982 movie for fans to pick up on.

"God, I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world to be starring in a remake of The Thing and I’ve got just as much kind of nerves for approaching the part as you guys could imagine and you guys would, because I’m such a huge fan of the original movie, or Carpenter’s film. I haven’t seen the other film.

I think what’s going on here is a really cool take and I think what Matthijs [Van Heijningen Jr.] and the guys who scripted it and Universal has done is a really cool idea; rather than doing a remake to do a prequel of sorts that is going to tell the story of what happened to the Norwegian base. The story is pretty original and I think what I can tell you that the design is really kind of true to the original.

In the production offices here at Toronto they brought some on set photos, behind the scenes photos from the Carpenter film because... I don’t know if you know that when they shot the original, they had the American base built and then they built off the back of it the Norwegian base.

You never saw the back of the American base in the film. So they actually built the two sets back to back. I think what’s going to be cool for the fans of the original film is that you are going to see the pieces of the puzzle come together that simply created the mystery in Carpenter’s film, you know, like the action and gore and the guy who slit his own throat with the cutthroat razor and all of that stuff. This film will stand-alone as it’s own entity, but it will also be a cool thing for anyone who loved the Carpenter film. 'Oh, that’s how that happened!' and 'That’s how that happened!'"


Edgerton went on to say that, while the new movie will be respectful of Carpenter's vision, it will still be an original take on the concept.

Yeah, and I think that’s what these guys are aiming for. They are certainly not treating it lightly, but at the same time they are moving forward with their own vision and their own take on it and I think what hopefully will be the result is the best of both worlds. I don’t know, just a tribute to what’s gone and a real excellent incorporation of where movies has come to in terms of technology."
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bsprecher
bsprecher - 5/3/2010, 1:52 AM
Carpenter's movie is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi/horror films! I can't wait to see what they do in the prequel!

And, yes, this is a comic book movie...

bsprecher
bsprecher - 5/3/2010, 2:42 AM
@MovieTheaterLad: Ha! I know that we're in the midst of a comic book movie explosion, but if they gave Ben Grimm his own movie that would be kind of ridiculous!
LightningArmour
LightningArmour - 5/3/2010, 2:44 AM
Movie Theater Lad, are you trying to tell me that you have never heard of John Carpenter's The Thing?
Or are you joking?


Also, [frick] this whole thing. it will be shit, and the monsters will all be done in crappy CGI.
The Thing had some of the most amazing special effects I have ever seen, and it would be a slap in the face to that film to not use real SFX in this one.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 5/3/2010, 2:51 AM
Ok so if its a Norwegian base then what the h*ll those americans are doing there?:D
bsprecher
bsprecher - 5/3/2010, 3:10 AM
@LightningArmour: Sheesh! Reserve judgment until you see the effects, at least.

@AlexDeLarge666: They were moving in on the alien spaceship found at the site. All of the Norwegians were dead.
ThunderCougarFalconBird
ThunderCougarFalconBird - 5/3/2010, 3:56 AM
AlexDeLarge666 - politically corrective job placement.
Gose
Gose - 5/3/2010, 5:04 AM
Much more interesting knowing what happened to Macready & Child ....
marvel72
marvel72 - 5/3/2010, 5:23 AM
i can't wait for this film the original 80s film is a sci-fi horror classic.
anyone who hasn't seen this i highly recommend it.
bsprecher
bsprecher - 5/3/2010, 5:28 AM
@grif: It's a prequel. It's going to show what happens when the Norwegians first uncover The Thing.
Gose
Gose - 5/3/2010, 5:39 AM
@grif

Too bad, waited for a sequel of this movie and a prequel is made... I'm pretty sure with the norwegians prequel, it started with the "ooohh" and "aaahhh" discovery, then the screaming and shouting .....
Joeyhavoc
Joeyhavoc - 5/3/2010, 5:56 AM
Wow guys. Brent found found some awesome news on a prequel to the BEST horror/sci-fi of all time.And you can't even bother to see the Carpenter version, or at least wiki it before you post? Anyway, great find. I'm stoked. Although I do agree with Gose, about Mac an Child.
superdog
superdog - 5/3/2010, 7:22 AM
good stuff. should be good. hope they dont fck it up.
DylansMyDog
DylansMyDog - 5/3/2010, 8:09 AM
I'm still a little skeptical about the Norwegian camp idea, I just hope they use that sweet helicopter chase scene from the opening of Carpenter's The Thing for the climax.

I mean who tries to kill a dog by throwing grenades from a helicopter?

Norwegians thats who
THEMRTERRIFIC
THEMRTERRIFIC - 5/3/2010, 8:19 AM
Loved the original. I hope they end the movie with them in the chopper chasing the husky. That would be AWESOME!
Ranger14
Ranger14 - 5/3/2010, 8:50 AM
I am not a prequel fan. The horse goes before the cart, not behind it.
supermarioworldE
supermarioworldE - 5/3/2010, 9:24 AM
If this truly is a prequel to The Thing, why do they have these american, english, and australian actors in the roles of Norwegian scientists? Shouldn't it be a cast comprised completely of Norwegian actors?

Ah well. I hope this movie is good regardless.
ukboy28
ukboy28 - 5/3/2010, 9:54 AM
im reserving judgment until i see a trailer or pics and the thing is one of my fav horror films ever made :)
Phinehas
Phinehas - 5/3/2010, 10:18 AM
I share the concerns of just another empty story trying to cash in on another cult-classic. My concerns for CGI over actual puppetry, make-up and minitures are also just as real as others. CGI is great! Don't get me wrong. And there is a lot of room for it these films. But CGI gives too much power. There was a learning curve to the original FX crews that gave it a gritty and real charm, where CGI has a tendency to clean up and sanitize too much of what should messy.
IMO
Betty
Betty - 5/3/2010, 10:43 AM
I am ok with this.

I hope there are some americans or at least some english characters for me to identify with. And maybe some young Norwegian chick or scientist's teenage daughter for me to lust after.

Maybe Olivia Wilde could be in this. Or Kate Beckinsale could come over from the White Out set if she's still living there between jobs.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 5/3/2010, 12:02 PM
Brent Sprecher@
So these americans came to the dead Norwegian base before the first film´s group and suffered a horrible death?!:/ Carpenter´s version is thousand times better!!

Ron@
Thanks for the lighting!:D
Joker08
Joker08 - 5/3/2010, 1:57 PM
Uncle Owen FTW!
Slpstrm
Slpstrm - 5/3/2010, 9:02 PM
Grif,
The comic that Brent has in the first comment is a sequel to the original story about Macready & Child and it wasn't a bad story, nut i'm not sure about a Prequel, I would rather a sequel to see what happens next.
There was even other comics for the thing "Eternal Vows" & "Climate of Fear"
Like most others here a hope a lot of it is not CGI as for it time the original has some of the best effects that are still great to this day.
gaikinger
gaikinger - 5/3/2010, 10:00 PM
that guy actually looks like the norwegian who gets shot in the face in the first thing....thats cool.
GHIGGS
GHIGGS - 6/29/2011, 1:50 PM
I've been waiting for this a long time now! Looking forward to seeing "The Thing" in it's original form!
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