'The Thing' Remake Based On Original Novel In The Works At Universal And Blumhouse

Universal and Blumhouse may be teaming up to remake The Thing, with the new version based on the recently surfaced long-lost pages of the original novel by John W. Campbell Jr. Campbell Jr.'s short novella, Who Goes There? — which became the basis for three previous film adaptations — was originally published in the August 1938 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, but had been cut down for publication. But in 2018, a novel-length version of Campbell Jr.'s was discovered, and a Kickstarter was launched to release the entire novel, titled Frozen Hell. Now, Universal and Blumhouse are reportedly collaborating to adapt the original unpublished novel into the latest film version of this classic story.

According to Bloody Disgusting, Universal and Blumhouse are teaming up to adapt the never-before-seen expanded version of Campbell Jr.'s novel, Frozen Hell.

"It's OFFICIAL!" producer Alan Donnes wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. "I received my signed contract and first check! I am Executive Producing a remake of THE THING but with additional chapters of John Campbell's groundbreaking novel, Frozen Hell, that had been lost for decades. Now, for the first time ever, Campbell's full vision will be realized on the big screen. The new film will include the very best of RKO's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, John Carpenter's classic THE THING and both books, Frozen Hell and Who Goes There?"

Sci-fi writer John Betancourt, who launched the Kickstarter campaign to fund the release of Frozen Hell in 2018, shared an update on the fully-funded project, telling supporters that a film adaptation was in the works.

"The movie will be from Universal and Blumhouse," Betancourt wrote in a post Monday. "Everyone is super excited about it, and it's being fast-tracked. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what's going on with Who Goes There?, Frozen Hell, and The Thing in Hollywood. I can't talk about the rest yet, but it's very exciting — and if all goes as planned, the Thing will be alive and well for quite a while."

The last time Hollywood tackled The Thing was the 2011 prequel film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., which was both a commercial and critical flop. However, the 1982 John Carpenter film The Thing, which followed Howard Hawks' 1951 film The Thing from Another World, is still considered as a horror classic and has spawned a variety of merchandise —  a 1982 novelization, haunted house attractions, board games, video games, and sequels in comic books. A new The Thing remake has yet to be confirmed by Universal or Paramount, so take all of this with a grain of salt. But Blumhouse has had a strong track record with horror reboots and sequels such as Halloween and Black Christmas. And we all know Hollywood can't resist a good remake of a horror classic these days.