Universal Gives Horror Fans SomeThing To Look Forward To

News

April 29, 2011 has been set as the official release date for Universal Studio’s upcoming prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 paranoia masterpiece, The Thing.

This release date puts the film smack dab in the beginning of 2011’s summer movie train ride — two weeks after the release of Scream 4 and a week before Marvel Studios’ Thor.

Universal’s prequel is currently going by the same name as the original and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton as unlucky visitors who join an ill-fated Norwegian scientific team on an Antarctic research expedition  — one that uncovers a shapeshifting alien.

The Buzz: While early word from those who’ve visited the film’s set has been positive, I remain cynical about the need for a prequel to The Thing. Not that I have a problem with revisiting John Carpenter’s masterpiece — The Thing is one of my favorite movies and I would love to see what modern special effects can whip up for the film’s amorphous extraterrestrial.

No, my problem is with it being a prequel. I am hard-pressed to think of a single quality prequel to a movie (and no, The Godfather Part II does not count since it’s half-prequel, half-sequel). Hollywood seems obsessed with turning to the past when it comes to dusting off old properties and this tactic has yet to turn out a single movie that lives up to the original. While there exists plenty of sequels that match (if not surpass) their precursor, a prequel is doomed by its very nature.

We know exactly how the majority of The Thing will end — we were shown in graphic detail during the original. I’d much rather see the continuing adventures of MacReady and Childs than spend an hour and a half filling in a few lines of dialogue from the original movie.

Buzz about the prequel’s screenplay has been positive, though, so I will try my best to put myself in a state of cautious optimism before the film’s April release date. And, if the film turns out to be yet another stinker of a John Carpenter film remake, at least I’ll still have the original.

Robert Saucedo is an avid movie watcher with seriously poor sleeping habits. The Mikey from Life cereal of film fans, Robert will watch just about anything — good, bad or ugly. He has written about film for newspapers, radio and online for the last 10 years. This has taken a toll on his sanity — of that you can be sure. Follow him on Twitter at @robsaucedo2500.