1951's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (watch it HERE), John Carpenter's 1982 film THE THING (watch it HERE), and the 2011 "premake" also called THE THING (watch that one HERE) were inspired by a 1938 novella called Who Goes There?, written by John W. Campbell Jr., and for decades no one knew that Who Goes There? was an adbridged version of the story Campbell had originally written. Campbell's complete story was recently published under the title Frozen Hell (you can pick up a copy at THIS LINK) – and earlier this year, it was announced that Blumhouse Productions is working with producer Alan Donnes on a new adaptation of the story that will take into account
additional chapters of John Campbell's groundbreaking novel, Frozen Hell, that had been lost for decades. Now, for the first time ever, Campbell's full vision will be realized on the big screen. The new film will include the very best of RKO's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, John Carpenter's classic THE THING and both books, Frozen Hell and Who Goes There?"
Trying to follow in the footsteps of Carpenter's film is a daunting task, the 2011 movie certainly didn't live up to it… so Blumhouse, having established a working relationship with Carpenter by having him executive produce and compose the scores for the new HALLOWEEN sequels, have asked Carpenter himself to be involved with the new adaptation in some capacity.
During a panel for the Fantasia International Film Festival last weekend, Carpenter said that he and Blumhouse founder Jason Blum have "talked about" a reboot of THE THING and that he would be "involved with that, maybe. Down the road." Now Variety has gone ahead and confirmed that Carpenter and Blumhouse are developing the reboot together. "The project is still in early stages, and no other details have been hammered out."
So Carpenter returned to the world of HALLOWEEN, and now he's going to be returning to THE THING. Knowing that he'll have some kind of influence on the movie makes me feel better about the idea of Campbell's story getting a new adaptation.