The Thing, but Actually Good
A pitch to restore a forgotten movie that almost found greatness.
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There’s a good chance you love The Thing. A lot of people do. Although it was largely panned as too gory and grim upon release, the sci-fi horror classic has since gained such a large fan base that it’s almost too popular to be called a cult film. It really is just a canonical classic now, despite the odds. If you’re a little bit more of a movie nerd, you might even love The Thing from Another World, an admirable 1950s take on the same creepy story. What you probably don’t love, though, is The Thing (2011).
What if I told you that could change?
The 2011 Thing is a direct prequel to Carpenter’s classic, taking place in the same timeline and filling in the gaps of what happened to the poor, doomed Norwegians. It’s largely remembered, these days, as a dark, murky, CGI-laden mess, if it's even ever thought of at all. There was, however, another version of the film that never got to see the light of day.
Although you might find it hard to believe, 2011’s Thing was written, planned, conceived, and shot largely with practical effects. Yes. The commitment was there. More than that, the good version of this prequel project was actually built and executed. It was only in post that the team got cold feet and attempted to pivot to primitive, Mummy-like CGI. The rest is ignominious history.
My proposal, then, is simple and stark. Morgan Creek Entertainment and Universal, the rights holders of the film, should authorize a reconstruction of the original practical effects, a new edit, and a new color grade to correct the deficiencies of the original release. By many accounts, there was a vibrant and classically designed Carpenter homage lost somewhere in the vault, and it would be a shame if it never got to see the light of day.
This kind of project is not unprecedented for Morgan Creek. In 2013, they undertook a similar adventure in creating a director’s cut of Nightbreed. The result, by all accounts, was a success.
In a 2023 interview with SYFY WIRE, the director of the 2011 Thing, Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., expressed open regret about the pivot to CGI. He also expressed a desire to showcase more paranoia and more character development beyond what survived in the current theatrical cut. Much of that, I’m sure, can be found in the can. It certainly exists in the script.
Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr., the practical-effects artists, are still around as well. Even if new CGI needs to be created to fill in the gaps in the practical effects, Gillis or Woodruff could see that it’s rendered in a practical 1980s style that complements their handcrafted work instead of just turning it into PlayStation soup. If Morgan Creek don’t want to undertake the financial burden of the restoration alone, they can always seek out an investing distribution partner like Arrow Video or Scream Factory, just as they did on Nightbreed. The ecosystem is there.
This October marks fifteen years since the release of the film. It’s a fitting anniversary for the announcement of a new edition. The animosity toward the 2011 Thing has faded into oblivion, and the warm feelings of the moviegoing public for Carpenter’s classic remain. A whole new generation of film buffs has little idea that the 2011 Thing ever even came out. A director’s cut with restored classic effects could be their first impression of the project, and it could even turn the forgotten film into a contrarian Gen Z gem.
Although it’s a “revision” on paper, this director’s cut of the 2011 Thing would really be much closer to the original creators’ intent. Eric Heisserer, the writer, always believed that the monsters needed to be practical. He said as much in an interview with Bloody Disgusting in 2011. From the outset, the intent was to make a film that could flow seamlessly into Carpenter’s original. They shot in the same Canadian province used for Carpenter’s exteriors, and they filmed the entire Thing on gorgeous 35 mm Panavision anamorphic. Unfortunately, the 2011 Thing was caught right in the ugly window of the early transition to digital. It was scanned for post with a 2K intermediate, robbing it of the depth of detail present in 35 mm. A new scan of those negatives, if accessible, would open up a whole new world of texture and dynamic range.
It's pretty clear, too, that the original practical effects were not a disaster. They were not replaced due to any sort of failure to execute. Heisserer remembers watching dailies of Mary Elizabeth Winstead firing a flamethrower at an animatronic, and his reaction was wholly enthusiastic. He said it looked quite strong.
Ultimately, the decision to switch to CGI was born of a shortsighted fear of seeming outmoded and passé. Even in the moment, the pivot sparked something of a civil war among the leadership, according to Heisserer. In the end, roughly seventy percent of the effects work was covered over with CGI.
There are a few moments, such as the final all-digital creature, that do not have a practical basis to revert to. Again, though, contemporary CGI techniques could evoke practical effects in these segments much more closely than what was available in 2011.
As it stands, Carpenter’s Thing is a year-over-year hit in the world of Blu-rays. 2011’s misshapen digital Thing, alas, is simply not a fitting companion. A restoration, though, might finally allow it to take its place in the Thingverse as a worthy prequel.
It would be a whole lot cheaper than shooting a new film. That’s for sure. The repentant aesthetic interest from the director seems to be there in spades as well. If something like this can be achieved for Nightbreed, a fairly niche film in the scheme of things, a project with the name recognition of The Thing can surely warrant a director’s cut.
On top of being potentially lucrative, I have no doubt that it would be a healing experience for van Heijningen. It would also be a healing experience for cinema itself.
