Movies News Talk
For more than four decades, The Thing, a 1982 sci-fi horror classic, has been a beloved movie; but, a real sequel has never come to pass. Fans have only been given a prequel, which examined the other Arctic base referenced in the original film, despite the film's rising popularity and the unresolved cliffhanger ending. Still, there was a special proposal under development to carry on the The Thing series.
Producer Roy Lee exposed an unexpected element on the background of The Thing franchise during San Diego Comic-con 2024. Following the events of the original movie, he said he and director Frank Darabont had worked on a sequel show meant to pick up in the present. This ambitious project would have seen the shapeshifting alien threat to human civilization expand outside the Arctic wasteland. Sadly, the show never materialized since Lee claimed the studio finally turned down the script.
Given the uncertain ending of the original movie, which leaves the fate of one of the survivors unknown, a television show presented the ideal venue to carry on The Thing's tale. The movie also created the scenario for a terrible worldwide invasion by establishing the threat of the shapeshifting alien fleeing the Arctic and disseminating to the planet. A TV show would have let for a more thorough investigation of the reaction of the world to The Thing's arrival and a more broad scope. The show might have concentrated on the first meeting with civilization, government attempts to contain the threat, and the alien's growing hold on the earth. It would have deviated greatly from the original movie's emphasis on a small group of scientists confronting the creature.
Lee omitted specifics on the particular storyline of the suggested TV show, although past ideas for a four-part miniseries never came to pass. Frank Darabont produced the miniseries, which David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick wrote, would have followed the group of Russians' recovery of the two survivors, MacReady and Childs. The narrative would then leap 23 years forward, examining The Thing's attempts at escape and human control. This story would have logically stretched the contentious ending of the original movie, allowing room for the uncertainty of its conclusion.
Though there has been constant talk about successors since the original movie came out, none have ever come to pass. The commercial and critical letdown of the 2011 prequel hampered Universal's first efforts at a sequel's development. But Universal and Blumhouse revealed intentions for a sequel in 2020, and John Carpenter even hinted at The Thing 2 as lately as 2023. Still, the suggested TV show also ran against difficulties. At Comic-Con Lee revealed that studios showed little interest in the project even with a finished script. Although the relationship between the TV show and the miniseries is not known, both might have suffered a similar destiny. Notwithstanding the difficulties, a follow-up to The Thing is most likely unavoidable.