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NY Comic-Con Video Blog: The Thing Prequel Footage Unveiled

by Alex Billington
October 9, 2010

There weren't many movie panels at the New York Comic-Con this weekend, but Universal had a strong presence with a few presentations, including a big reveal for The Thing prequel. We've been waiting to see some footage from the movie and we got a first look at some actual photos last week. But today they finally unveiled a teaser trailer for a fairly small audience at the NY Comic-Con and it was actually pretty awesome, I was very impressed. It's a beautifully edited, exciting and thrilling teaser with a few bits of snowy footage and some glimpses of the alien/creature. Everyone else I talked to sitting with us seemed to enjoy it, too.

"It's Lord of the Flies meets Aliens," said actor Eric Christian Olsen, who stars in The Thing as one of the Americans in Antarctica. This prequel takes place three days before the events of the first John Carpenter film and is a direct prequel. First time director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. was at home making this because of his Norwegian roots and it looks like he's crafted a fantastic counterpart to Carpenter's horror classic. "I really pushed hard for having practical monsters... We had as much real monsters on set as possible," he explained at one point, which is certainly great to hear. As for their approach to the creature, Heijningen said we'll see parts of the previous (human) host, "there will always be a little something left."

After the panel, I met up with my friend Jordan from The Film Stage to record a short video blog talking about the panel and our initial reactions to the teaser trailer for The Thing. Check out our video blog below:

As great as the teaser looked (unfortunately we don't know when it will be online) my big complaint is still about the title - The Thing. The producers were actually asked about this, but the answer was pretty much bullshit. "Ideally, we love the idea of our movie living in that universe, that world... It's the same monster, it's not a sequel. We never entertained the idea, it [would feel] like a video game at that point." They didn't even consider different titles? How ridiculous is that. From the footage I saw, I'm sure it'll be a great film, but it's outrageous they're not doing anything at all to differentiate this movie from Carpenter's The Thing. But oh well, maybe it just doesn't matter. Either way, I'll be in theaters on April 29th, 2011 to watch this.

Filed under Comic Conventions, Hype, To Watch

From around the web:

David

@Alex Billington When the trailer showed "The Thing" title did they do the "tear sequence" like the original had? I too have a problem with the title. Maybe they should have gone with the original film's title "The Thing from Another World".
http://aeonflux.freeblog.hu AE

Can't wait to see this.
Xerxex

I still hold the original in high regard, but so far this project is starting to get some momentum.
DoomCanoe

i hope its not like predators and just a complete copy of the original
LINKFX

It's Lord of the Flies meets Aliens...oh so you mean it's like The Thing then? Hahaha. I mean i guess it's alright that they're calling it The Thing...Carpenter's film was a loose remake/re-imagining as it was. Plus what else are they going to call it? Something stupid like "the thing awakens" or "the thing...alive!!!" jk abput that last. I see what you mean though...i honestly hope it does something different from the original, but we'll see...
beavis

agree with #4.........i hope it offers some new backstory that adds info to what was shown in the original. i don't want a "the thing" remake/reboot.
Scared S-less!!!

Ok Alex, I believe what you saw looked very cool. I with you on the whole title argument. You know what worries me about this flick? If this is a prequel with characters we have never been introduced to... they WHY in the screen shot you posted does the two guys look JUST like Kurt Douglas and Keith David and their characters the that they played in the original movie?! I mean they could pass as their stunt doubles!!!!
Craig

Until they modify the title, it's not a prequel. It's a remake.
LINKFX

@ craig, that's not true at all. They are saying it's a prequel, and the story is regarding what happened to the mostly foreign team that was at the site that discovered the space ship wreck. So there is big potential story already there for them to form something new from. This is not the Kurt Russel story.
norm

IT'S - A - PREQUEL. How come some people haven't caught onto that yet? Even after supposedly watching the clip above?
http://HomeCinemaCentral.co.uk Kev

If this is a prequel how come the people in the trailer don't have Norwegian accents? The Americans came later and should not feature in a prequel? We should either have subtitles or accents...
LINKFX

@ Kev, it's a mix of norwegian and americans.
Eye Spy

Watch the clip , it starts 3 days before the first film. IT'S A PREQUEL
EJP

@ #7 Scared S-less Mac was played by Kurt Russell.
JimD

Can't wait.
dee

cinemablend.com has the actual footage.
tazz

i agree with you Alex the title of this "The Thing prequel" should be different but its kind of hard to think of a new title. #11 the cast is of American and Norwegian actors
waiting

Shit video player.
http://redshoulder.deviantart.com/gallery/ Marc McKenzie

I missed the panel at Comic-Con, but I'm giving this a chance. THE THING--both versions--are great, classic films, and Carpenter's movie is a masterpiece of science fiction/horror. The fact that the makers of the film give a damn--and seem to be clearly respectful of the Carpenter film--is good news. They aren't trying to piss on the 1982 film. And sad to say to most of you, but there are still a lot more people out there who have not seen the 1982 Carpenter film. If this film makes them go check out the 1982 film (and for that matter, the 1951 version and the classic story "Who Goes There?") then so much the better. And as to not showing too much in the trailer...well, isn't that the bloody point of a trailer? To whet the appetite and get the audience's attention? I'm not ready to go pre-cog on this and scream "It'll suck!!" because none of us know if it will. The only way to find out is to see it in the theater in April, 2011...and I'm definitely going to do that.
keith sinclair

Do you think this will be an 18(r-rated) film, or will the studio push for a teen friendly pg13 rating?
http://redshoulder.deviantart.com/gallery/ Marc McKenzie

@Keith Sinclair: Keith, the filmmakers have stated that it will be an R-rated film. No PG-13 rating for this one. And the studio has also agreed on this. If anyone tells you that it will be PG-13, they're lying through their teeth. Hope this helps.
Hyper Dweeb III

What is Joel Edgerton doing outside of shit Aussie films?