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'The Thing' Prequel's Delay Allowing for 'Additional Photography'

by Alex Billington
November 15, 2010
Source: HitFix

When we reported last week that Universal had pulled The Thing prequel of the release charts, we weren't sure if it was for a delay or otherwise. Well, now we have confirmation, as HitFix got in touch with producer Marc Abraham who explained the entire situation, confirming that it's just "not finished" and they have more work to do. Apparently The Thing, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., is going in for a few weeks of "upcoming additional photography," which essentially means reshoots, giving them a chance to patch up any problems they've found while editing. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is returning to shoot more scenes.

Apparently what they want to work on, according to Abraham, is "to enhance existing sequences or to make crystal clear a few story beats or to add punctuation marks to the film's feeling of dread." So many uses of "or" - they really don't know? It's interesting to hear that apparently the movie lacks enough "dread" for their liking in its current state. That is exactly what makes John Carpenter's version so damn good, so it's appropriate they're focusing on it, for better or worse. I don't know anyone who has seen a cut yet, but I've seen footage and it actually looked great, but of course that was just a teaser trailer. Here's another quote:

"Abraham spoke about how confident he was in the work by Matthijs van Hijningen Jr., the film's director, and how proud he is of his cast, including Joel Edgerton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. He knows how important both the monster moments and the connective character material are to the film working, and they're looking at everything right now to make sure they've got what they need."

They're doing their best to avoid using the word "reshoot" which is fine, but let's hope this doesn't mean The Thing prequel is in dire trouble. To me, it sounds like we're either about to see the same thing happen to this that happened to The Wolfman - and we all know how that turned out - or we're going to get a great dread-filled thriller. I'm hoping for the latter, but it's hard to tell. They add: "This doesn't sound like the additional work motivated the date change, but rather the date change giving them room now to do whatever they'd like to do to get the film finished just right." I don't know if I believe that, but I'm still hoping for the best.

One sequence they're working on involves "first major encounter with the Thing," which is a key part of the story. There's been on-going effects work with Amalgamated Dynamics, who will also be involved in the "additional photography." Obviously they're doing a lot of work, I just hope it's for the better. HitFix doesn't know when the new date will be either. "Now it's just a matter of finding a date that works for the film, and that gives it a little bit of room to breathe." I heard they ran the trailer on the Tram ride at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, so I have a feeling The Thing might be rescheduled for next fall, around October.

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