Thing, The

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The Thing

Credits
Title:	The Thing
Director:	John Carpenter
Writers:	Bill Lancaster; John W. Campbell, Jr.
Producers:	Wilbur Stark; David Foster; Lawrence Thurman; Larry Franco; Stuart Cohen
Composer:	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography:	Dean Cundey
Editors:	Todd Ramsay
Production
Distributed by:	Universal Pictures Thurman-Foster Company
Released:	June 25th, 1982
Rating:	R
Running time:	100 min.
Country:	USA
Language:	English
Budget:	$15,000,000
Gross:	$19,629,760
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Next:	Thing, The (2011)

The Thing is an American horror film of the science-fiction subgenre. It was directed by John Carpenter and written by Bill Lancaster. It was released theatrically in the United States on June 25th, 1982. Often marketed under the title John Carpenter's The Thing, the film adapts the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, Jr. and was also loosely based on the script from the 1951 sci-fi film The Thing from Another World by Howard Hawks and Christian Nyby. A prequel film, also called The Thing, was made in 2011 by director Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.. The premise of the film involves a team of scientists who are sent to investigate lost communications at a Norwegian research outpost in the frozen tundra of Antarctica. After discovering the bizarre remains of a dog and a human cadaver, they quickly find themselves prey to an aggressive alien life form that assimilates human hosts and takes their form. The film stars Kurt Russell as the main protagonist - helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady. Other notable cast members include Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David and Richard Dysart.

Cast[]

Actor	Role
Kurt Russell	R.J. MacReady
A. Wilford Brimley	Doctor Blair
T.K. Carter	Nauls
David Clennon	Palmer
Keith David	Childs
Richard Dysart	Doctor Copper
Charles Hallahan	Vance Norris
Peter Maloney	George Bennings
Richard Masur	Clark
Donald Moffat	Garry
Joel Polis	Fuchs
Thomas Waites	Windows
Norbert Weisser	Norwegian
Larry Franco	Norwegian passenger with rifle
Nate Irwin	Helicopter pilot
William Zeman	Pilot
Adrienne Barbeau	Computer voice
John Carpenter	Norwegian
Jed	Dog Thing

Notes & Trivia[]

This film is alternatively known as John Carpenter's The Thing.
The tagline to this film is "What you fear most... is among you".
There are nineteen credited cast members in this film. 18 of the credited cast members are human, and one is a dog. 17 of the human cast members are male, with 1 female (as a voice only).
Production on The Thing began in June of 1981. Exteriors were filmed in Stewart and Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada as well as the Tongas National Forest in Juneau, Alaska. Studio set shots were filmed at Universal Studios, California.
The Thing grossed $3,107,897 over it's opening weekend on June 25th-27th. It was screened in 840 theaters in the US.
The Thing was included on the John Carpenter: Master of Fear DVD collection along with Prince of Darkness, They Live and Village of the Damned.
Aside from an uncredited behind-the-scenes appearance by Adrienne Barbeau as the voice on MacReady's computer, The Thing features an all-male cast.
John Carpenter and producer Larry Franco make cameo appearances as Norwegian researchers on the videotape.
Jed the dog, who plays the Dog Thing in this film is the same animal who played White Fang in the 1991 film of the same name.
This film was released on the same day as Megaforce. Guess which one is more widely remembered?
A video game sequel, The Thing, was developed by Computer Artworks. It was published by the Black Label Games label of Vivendi Universal Games. It was first released in North America on the Microsoft Windows platform on August 20th, 2002. Director John Carpenter provides the voice for a character in the game.
The Thing video game establishes that Childs dies of hypothermia following the events of this film. MacReady however, survives.
Composer Ennio Morricone was nominated for a Razzie award for his score on The Thing. Morricone later implemented unused pieces of music from The Thing when scoring The Hateful Eight thirty-three years later. Morricone won his first and only Academy Award for his work on The Hateful Eight even though it was the same music that earned him a Razzie on The Thing.
Nauls is the only character in the film whose fate is left undetermined. He is last seen fleeing the generator room from the Blair-Thing. The novelization of the film posits that he takes his own life rather than risk being assimilated. The Thing from Another World sequel comic from Dark Horse Comics confirms Nauls' death, but does not reveal how he died.
Actors David Clennon and Charles Hallahan both appeared together in the 1980 drama film Hide in Plain Sight.

Recommendations[]

External Links[]

References[]

Film Series
This article relates to the films within The Thing franchise. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Thing Films category.

Films

The Thing from Another World • The Thing • The Thing (2011)

Comics

The Thing from Another World • The Thing from Another World: Eternal Vows • The Thing from Another World: Climate of Fear