The producers were ultimately unhappy with Hooper and his writing partner Kim Henkel's concept. [23] At various points, the producers met with Brian Dennehy, Kris Kristofferson, John Heard, Ed Harris, Tom Berenger, Jack Thompson, Scott Glenn, Fred Ward, Peter Coyote, Tom Atkins, and Tim McIntire. was "timely" for him, meaning he could make it "true to [his] day" as Hawks had in his time. [22] It took Russell about a year to grow his hair and beard out for the role. The Americans take it to their base and deduce that it is an alien life form. Screenwriters Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins held the rights to make an adaptation, but passed on the opportunity to make a new film, so Universal obtained the rights from them. The producers discussed various replacements including Walter Hill, Sam Peckinpah and Michael Ritchie, but the development of El Diablo was not as imminent as Carpenter believed, and he remained with The Thing. This is why I've called you." [88] His previous success had gained him a multiple-film contract at Universal, but the studio opted to buy him out of it instead. Interspersed with these stories are the reflections of Tim O'Brien, the main character and narrator.. "The Thing" is a great barf-bag movie, all right, but is it any good? [20], Art director John J. Lloyd oversaw the design and construction of all the sets, as there were no existing locations used in the film. Instead they collected as many portable air conditioners as they could, closed off the stage, and used humidifiers and misters to add moisture to the air. It suffered only minimal damage after the fire had been put out, and the crew successfully filmed the scene. [193], In 2005, the Syfy channel planned a four-hour miniseries sequel produced by Frank Darabont and written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. [38] After watching a roughly assembled cut of filming to date, Carpenter was unhappy that the film seemed to feature too many scenes of men standing around talking. [12] Bottin admitted he had no idea how his designs would be implemented practically, but Carpenter did not reject them. [42][43], Carpenter filmed multiple endings for The Thing, including a "happier" ending because editor Todd Ramsay thought that the bleak, nihilistic conclusion would not test well with audiences. Cundey would illuminate the area behind the creature to detail its overall shape. or "anti-science" like The Thing from Another World, Carpenter chose "pro-human", stating, "It's better to be a human being than an imitation, or let ourselves be taken over by this creature who's not necessarily evil, but whose nature it is to simply imitate, like a chameleon. [37] During the journey there, the crew bus slid in the snow toward the unprotected edge of the road, nearly sending it down a 500-foot (150 m) embankment. [63] The week before its release, Carpenter promoted the film with clips on Late Night with David Letterman. [8] When it opened, it was competing against the critically and commercially successful E.T. The original is subsumed by an alien copy that is virtually impossible to identify. The Thing focuses on being unable to trust one's peers, but this can be interpreted as distrust of entire institutions. Likes chess. The team also watches a videotape of the Norwegian team working at a … [25] At its peak, Bottin had a 35-person crew of artists and technicians, and he found it difficult to work with so many people. The team debate whether to allow MacReady inside, but he breaks in and holds the group at bay with dynamite. Carpenter opted to end the film with the survivors slowly freezing to death to save humanity from infection, believing this to be the ultimate heroic act. [63] The response to public pre-screenings of The Thing resulted in the studio changing the somber, black-and-white advertising approved by the producers to a color image of a person with a glowing face. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. As well as including previous features such as the commentary and Terror Takes Shape, it added interviews with the cast and crew, and segments that focus on the music, writing, editing, Ploog's artwork, an interview with Alan Dean Foster, who wrote the film's novelization, and the television broadcast version of The Thing that runs 15 minutes shorter than the theatrical cut. 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