John Carpenter Initially Wanted No Part In The Thing
"The Thing" is often regarded as one of John Carpenter's best movies. A chilly, gory nightmare, Carpenter's film is based on both the John W. Campbell Jr. novella "Who Goes There?" and its 1951 film adaptation "The Thing from Another World." Using jaw-dropping, stomach-churning make-up and creature effects courtesy of Rob Bottin, Carpenter's "The Thing" follows a group of men secluded at a research center in Antarctica. When an alien lifeform that can look like anyone suddenly ends up in their midst, trust becomes a serious issue. Anyone can be The Thing, after all — and that means anyone who is still human is in serious trouble. Carpenter brings his usual deft skill to the material, crafting a scary, memorable monster movie that has stood the test of time and gone on to become a classic (even though it originally flopped at the box office).
But as it turns out, Carpenter was reluctant to even direct the film and turned the job down multiple times before finally giving in and saying yes.
John Carpenter turned down The Thing
In an oral history piece for the film (via SyFy), Carpenter divulged his reluctance to make the movie, primarily because he loved the 1951 film so much (the 1951 film even appears on a TV in Carpenter's "Halloween").
"It was not something I wanted to do," Carpenter said. "Universal had [the rights to] 'The Thing' and they wanted to remake it. The original 'Thing' was one of my favorite movies. I really didn't want to get near it. But I re-read the novella and thought, 'You know, this is a pretty good story here. We get the right writer, the right situation, we could do something.'"
However, Carpenter was still not entirely sold. Universal tried three separate times to get the film made without Carpenter and failed each time. The studio then turned to Carpenter again, and again, the filmmaker seemed hesitant, saying: "You guys have failed three times. Why do I want to sign onto a failed project?" Eventually, though, Carpenter finally did sign on, developing the project into the film we know today. Again: "The Thing" was not a box office hit, and for years was seen as a failure. However, time has been kind to the movie, and it's also hailed as a classic Carpenter movie these days.
Now I guess all that's left to do is debate the movie's ending.