After we previously reported the news that Dutch director Matthijs Van Heijningen is to tackle a prequel to The Thing, it didn’t seem that bad.
It was rumoured that Eric Heisserer and Ronald D. Moore’s script was to explain the nightmarish situation that occured prior to the US scientists’ story in John Carpenter’s superb 1982 film. Kurt Russell and his team discovered a Norwegian base in Antartica, where the inhabitants had been wiped out by an alien entity that consumed and replicated its victims to chilling effect.
Well, you can kiss that goodbye, as www.movies.spoilertv.com have the casting details for the prequel, which starts shooting in March.
Read it and weep:
[KATE LLOYD] In her late 20s to early 30s, pretty, bright-eyed, intelligent, she’s a graduate of Columbia and a Ph.D. candidate in paleontology (the study of prehistoric life). On the recommendation of her friend Adam Goodman, Kate is tapped for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by Dr. Sander Halvorson to join his research team in Antarctica, where an extraordinary discovery has been made. Upon arrival, Kate soon finds herself at odds with Halvorson about how best to proceed with the discovery…
[DR. SANDER HALVORSON] In his late 30s to early 50s, austere, scholarly and imperious, he’s a microbiologist from NYU who leads a science research team to Antarctica to help his old friend Edvard interpret and analyze an extraordinary discovery made beneath the ice. Sander, a brilliant scientist and a master of self-promotion, knows that his involvement in such an historic discovery will bring him fame and fortune. Blinded by ambition, he refuses to abandon the “project” even as the bodies pile up around him.
[SAM CARTER] In his early 30s, rugged, handsome, blue-collar, he’s a helicopter pilot with a private charter service that transports personnel and supplies from McMurdo Station to remote research sites across Antarctica. Carter is a mercenary. He flies when he wants, where he wants, and he flies for one reason: money.
[ADAM GOODMAN] In his early 30s, clever, brash, unapologetically ambitious, Adam comes to Antarctica as Halvorson’s research assistant. A friend of Kate’s since they were undergrads at Columbia, it is Adam who recommended her to Dr. Halvorson. Though his respect for Kate is genuine, ultimately, he is a likeable opportunist who believes his professional association with the esteemed Dr. Halvorson will advance his career.
You can start checking off all the inevitable cliches right now. I’m guessing the “pretty, bright-eyed” Kate will be paired off with Adam. The most brilliant aspect of Carpenter’s film was the incredibly ordinary all-male cast, all completely believable as the sort of men who would choose to live in isolation for months at a time. This is looking likely to head into action territory, with words like rugged and mercenary being bandied about, and I’m guessing they won’t be going for the creeping madness that must’ve destroyed the Norwegians. I guess a genuine prequel was too much to ask for.
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