Why A Remake Of John Carpenter's 'The Thing' Is A Bad Idea

Gus Van Saint's Pyscho, Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep and Universal's 2011 flick The Thing show that audiences don't want remakes, sequels or prequels to cult horror movies 

Kurt Russell in 'The Thing' (CREDIT: Universal)

                     by Jack Linsdell

This week, cult filmmaker and horror pioneer John Carpenter was speaking at the Fantasia Film Festival where he received this year's Lifetime Achievement Award. Apart from detailing some key details about his upcoming score for David Gordon Green's Halloween Kills sequel, Carpenter also revealed that Jason Blum (head of Blumhouse Pictures) was developing a reboot for The Thing. Carpenter didn't say in what form this would be, but considering a prequel has already been made, it's either a legacy "thirty years later" sequel or a remake. Either way, this is bad news, if only because audiences have repeatedly told studios they don't want prequels, sequels or remakes to cult classic horror flicks from the 1980s and 1990s.

Carpenter's 1982 cult horror flick was a sort of "Bear Island meets Alien" hybrid starring a in-his-prime Kurt Russell in one of their many acclaimed collaborations together. The Thing followed a group of scientists who encounter an parasitic, extraterrestrial "thing" that takes the form of whatever it eats. As expected in a thriller like this, people get picked off one by one as the scientists are unable to trust one another because no one knows who (or what) the "thing" is now embodying. Anyway, despite pioneering special effects work, The Thing was panned upon release getting the unfair title of "most hated movie ever", whilst simultaneously bombing at the box office (a mere $19.6 million on a $15 million budget). Blame fierce competition from Steven Spielberg's ET: The Extra Terrestrial, which offered a similar "out of this world" creature narrative but in a lighter, more optimistic and definitely more family-friendly format, or an audience living through a very tough recession. Either way, Carpenter couldn't use his popularity from horror hits like Halloween and The Fog to make this Kurt Russell-led flick any more of an event for moviegoers, despite the movie being a damn masterpiece. Sure, it's since undergone revaluation with most modern day critics telling you it's one of the best horror flicks ever made, but that still doesn't make it a "hit". 

In recent years, studios have been struggling to get audiences to show up for adult counter-programmers which used to be their "bread and butter". Audiences now only go to theatres to see "event" movies, which usually end up being the latest Marvel or DC blockbuster or Disney live-action remake. That means the likes of The Goldfinch, The Hate U Give and The Good Liar play to empty auditoriums which is sad considering most of them tend to be very good, and push the boundaries in terms of inclusivity and diversity in front of/behind the camera. So, it's no surprise that studios are being forced to delve back into their archives to find any form of popular IP to exploit for new movies. Recently, that has included remaking classic "hit" movies or producing legacy sequels or prequels to them. That's why we're getting a Twister 2 suddenly. Anyway, audiences have repeatedly told studios that they don't want their cult horror flicks rebooted in any shape or form, but studios are (understandably) not listening. The Thing getting a reboot of some kind will be the latest example of audience's saying "no" and studios ignoring them. 

Heck, Universal already tried this back in 2011 when they released a prequel to Carpenter's 1982 classic and audiences didn't show up. Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and without the involvement of Carpenter at all, The Thing prequel was far from a good movie or a success. It was panned by critics as being a largely unnecessary movie, with audience's saying "no thank you" to the tune of $31.5 million on a $38 million budget. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an amazing actress whose the best part of the movie, but even she couldn't turn The Thing into a profitable movie, let alone a hit. Universal tried and failed back in 1998 too with Gus Van Saint's terrific shot-by-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic Pyscho. Despite being an excellent movie from an acclaimed filmmaker (Good Will Hunting and A Promised Land are exceptional) with a prestigious and super talented cast of "character actors" (Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore, William H Macy and Viggo Mortensen), Pyscho still didn't click with audiences. With only $37 million on a $60 million budget, audiences clearly said "no thanks". And, in 2019, Warner Bros. tried it with Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep, the long awaited sequel to The Shining. That Ewan McGregor/Rebecca Ferguson horror flick recieved critical praise and had links to popular author Stephen King and still audiences said "no" with an underwhelming $72 million worldwide on a $45 million budget.  

There seems to be a clear trend that no matter how good or star-studded your reboot is, audiences don't want remakes, sequels or prequels to cult horror flicks of the 1970s/80s/90s. There also appears to be a difference as to why Warner Bros.' It and It: Chapter 2 break out whilst Doctor Sleep bombs. In that case, It was the first big-screen adaption of that Stephen King novel that happened to play in a prime fall release date with little competition, whilst Mike Flanagan's movie was a "thirty years later" sequel to a cult movie that young audiences didn't care for, with a long run time and artistic rather than commercial values making it far from "for the masses" entertainment. Sony only scored with their recent Dwayne Johnson-led Jumanji sequels because the IP was of a family-friendly adventure nature, and also the new movies appealed to those who didn't care for the IP itself by being big-budget, fantasy blockbusters with big stars, a unique and fun hook and a prime Christmas release date.

So, as much as Universal may have eventually got a successful revival of Carpenter's Halloween franchise with David Gordon Green's 2018 sequel, they have failed too many times in rebooting other cult classic horror flicks from that same time period. The Thing stands as much chance as Pyscho, Doctor Sleep and it's 2011 prequel did of breaking out with audiences. Clearly, folks have told studios "no thanks" too many times. I can't see how this time, even with the popular horror studio Blumhouse behind it, this reboot is going to be any different.