Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. has revealed what a sequel to 2011’s The Thing might have looked like.
Speaking with SYFY WIRE, van Heijningen Jr. explained his ideas for a sequel to 2011’s The Thing, which served as a prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 film.
“We fantasized about a sequel,” he said. “Kate [Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character] would escape and would be picked up at sea and tries to warn the world at an oil platform near the South Pole. The monster would break loose on the the rig. I liked the oil rig mayhem idea.”
Carpenter’s The Thing starred Kurt Russell, A. Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Lennon, and Keith David. While it received negative reviews at the time of its release and only made $19.6 million at the box office, the movie found an audience and gained a cult following when it hit home video. It’s now considered to be one of the best horror movies of all time by many fans.
A prequel to The Thing arrived 29 years later. Along with Winstead, the film starred Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Eric Christian Olsen, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. The movie received mixed reviews from critics at the time of its release and made $31.5 million at the worldwide box office with a budget of $38 million.
Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. reflects on 2011’s The Thing
Reflecting on how audiences reacted to 2011’s The Thing, van Heijningen Jr. said, “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 continued, “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.”
