THE THING Prequel Director Regrets Using Heavy CGI and Shares Details on Scrapped Sequel

In 2011 a prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing was released, which was directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. The movie didn’t turn out to be very good, and I think a lot of people forgot that it even exists. The movie was criticized for its use of CGI over practical effects.

It’s crazy to me that these guys set out to make a Thing movie, and they opted not to use practical effects. The director of the film realizes this now and regrets his decisions.

Heijningen Jr. explained: "The Carpenter version was so good and a lot of fans were almost offended by the prequel and didn’t see the necessity for a follow-up. But now I fully understand that it was a bit early.”

He then goes on to admit that they shouldn't have used CGI to bolster the practical special effects that were created by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.: “I know this is a debated topic, but looking back, we were caught in a cross-zone where animatronics were old-fashioned and the CGI wasn’t good enough. We made the wrong decision to do it in post-production [when it came to] making the monster design in the computer. I regret that now."

When talking about what he’d change now, Heijningen Jr. said, "Better character development, less CGI, and more paranoia between the characters. The Thing is about not being able to trust anybody. That could have been explored further."

There was also a sequel that was being planned! He shared some details on what that saying: "We fantasized about a sequel. Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) would escape and would be picked up at sea and tried to warn the world at an oil platform near the South Pole. The monster would break loose on the rig. I liked the oil rig mayhem idea."

The Thing only earned $31.5 million at the box office on a $38 million budget, so that sequel was never going to happen.

What did you think about The Thing prequel film?

Via: SyFy Wire