Few horror films in history are as beloved as The Thing. This timeless classic is often ranked among the best projects John Carpenter ever worked on. While remaking horror classics can be risky, Carpenter successfully took the loose concept of the 1951 B-movie The Thing From Another World and turned it into a masterclass in paranoia and suspense.
Even though The Thing was a surprising disappointment at the box office and received negative reviews when it was first released, it later gained popularity as a cult classic. This newfound recognition showed Universal Pictures that the film had potential for a revival. Initially, a sequel to The Thing was pitched as a four-part miniseries by filmmaker Frank Darabont.
Continuing the legacy of one of the greatest horror movies ever made was always going to be a challenge, but Darabont is a director who has earned a lot of respect. In addition to directing two iconic films, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, Darabont proved he could successfully adapt Stephen King’s work, much like Carpenter.
Stephen King, like Carpenter, has a strong and loyal fan base, so it’s safe to say that anything Darabont intended to create would have been worth watching. However, Darabont’s version of The Thing sequel was ultimately canceled due to creative differences with the studio.
What Would Frank Darabont’s The Thing Series Have Been About?
Frank Darabont was first approached by the SyFy channel to develop a new version of The Thing alongside screenwriter David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Johnson-McGoldrick had always considered the original The Thing as one of the most influential films in shaping his career as an artist.
SyFy initially seemed interested in creating a complete reboot that wouldn’t be connected to Carpenter’s version of the film, in the same way Carpenter’s version wasn’t dependent on the 1951 film The Thing From Another World.
However, instead of creating a full reboot, Darabont and Johnson-McGoldrick pitched a direct sequel that would open with the discovery of the frozen bodies of Childs (played by Keith David) and MacReady (played by Kurt Russell) by Russian scientists. This would resolve the first film’s ambiguous ending, which left audiences guessing about what happened to these characters.
Darabont’s goal was to update The Thing and make it relevant to modern events. While Carpenter’s film served as a metaphor for the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Darabont’s version would have addressed post-9/11 concerns about domestic terrorism and sleeper cells.
The series would have been set 23 years after the events of Carpenter’s movie. Though the project was initially pitched as a limited series event, Darabont’s ideas were much larger.
His outline suggested the possibility of a full-length series, which would have included deeper themes, such as family drama, elements of Native American folklore, an origin story for the creature, and several elaborate scenes that would have required a much larger budget.
Given that SyFy had used the Battlestar Galactica miniseries as a launching pad for the eventual 2004 reboot, it’s possible the same strategy could have been applied to Darabont’s The Thing sequel. The show could have started as a miniseries before expanding into a full series based on the success of the initial run.
Why Was The Thing Sequel Canceled?
Unfortunately, plans for a sequel to The Thing were scrapped when the studio reportedly “hated” the script. Due to this disagreement, Darabont decided to leave the project and began working on The Walking Dead instead. Even though the sequel was canceled, The Thing remained a valuable property for Universal Pictures.
The studio eventually produced a prequel in 2011, which starred Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton. Unfortunately, the 2011 prequel failed to set itself apart from Carpenter’s original film and was a major disappointment both critically and financially. Unlike the original, it’s unlikely that the 2011 prequel will ever gain a cult following.
In 2020, Carpenter hinted to Jason Blum that he was considering a reboot of The Thing because the themes of isolation and fear felt especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a later meeting between Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Peacock didn’t lead to anything concrete, and the project was shelved once again.
It seems that the high standards set by Carpenter’s original film have made studios and filmmakers hesitant to try to top the classic, fearing they may not be able to meet expectations. For those interested in revisiting the original, The Thing is available to rent or buy on Prime Video in the U.S.
