The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella "Who Goes There?", it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any one of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team's helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and features A.
Introduction
The Thing (1982 film)
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
Bill Lancaster. Bill Lancaster. Bill Lancaster Bill Lancaster
when did the movie the thing come out
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1982
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what is the movie about?
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It tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms.
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who wrote it?
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The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter and written by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella "Who Goes There?", it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any one of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team's helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and features A.
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
Pieces of Morricone's unused score for "The Thing" were repurposed for "The Hateful Eight". Tarantino also cited "The Thing" as an inspiration for his 1992 film "Reservoir Dogs". The film is screened annually in February to mark the beginning of winter at the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. In January 2010, "Clarkesworld Magazine" published "The Things," a short story by Peter Watts told from the Thing's point of view; it is unable to understand why humans are hostile toward it. The story received a 2011 Hugo Award nomination. In 2017, a 400-page art book was released featuring art inspired by "The Thing", with contributions from 350 artists, a foreword by director Eli Roth, and an afterword by Carpenter.
The Thing (1982 film) | Cultural impact
Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites in supporting roles. Production began in the mid-1970s as a faithful adaptation of the novella, following 1951's "The Thing from Another World". "The Thing" went through several directors and writers, each with different ideas on how to approach the story. Filming lasted roughly 12 weeks, beginning in August 1981, and took place on refrigerated sets in Los Angeles as well as in Juneau, Alaska, and Stewart, British Columbia. Of the film's $15million budget, $1.5million was spent on Rob Bottin's creature effects, a mixture of chemicals, food products, rubber, and mechanical parts turned by his large team into an alien capable of taking on any form.
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
Edward G. Robles, Jr. wrote a short science fiction story partially based around the song. It involved several homeless men who find an item like the one described in the song. In the story, the item is discovered to be an alien disguised as something nobody wants. It was originally copyrighted by Galaxy Publishing Corp. in 1954.
The Thing (song) | In science fiction
Carpenter did not want to write the project himself, after recently completing work on "Escape from New York" (1981), and having struggled to complete a screenplay for "The Philadelphia Experiment" (1984). He was wary of taking on writing duties, preferring to let someone else do it. Once Carpenter was confirmed as the director, several writers were asked to script "The Thing", including Richard Matheson, Nigel Kneale, and Deric Washburn. Bill Lancaster initially met with Turman, Foster and Cohen in 1977, but he was given the impression that they wanted to closely replicate "The Thing from Another World", and he did not want to remake the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
The Thing is a 2011 science fiction horror film directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr., written by Eric Heisserer, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Eric Christian Olsen. It is a direct prequel to the 1982 film of the same name by John Carpenter, which was an adaptation of the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell. It tells the story of a team of Norwegian and American scientists who discover a parasitic alien buried deep in the ice of Antarctica, realizing too late that it is still alive. "The Thing" premiered on October 10, 2011 and was released on October 14, 2011.
The Thing (2011 film) | Introduction
The internal, plant-like structure of the creature makes it impervious to bullets (but not to other destructive forces). Campbell's "Thing" is a life form capable of assuming the physical and mental characteristics of any living thing it encounters; this characteristic was later realized in John Carpenter's adaptation of the novella, the 1982 film "The Thing".
The Thing from Another World | Screenplay
In Antarctica, a Norwegian helicopter pursues a sled dog to an American research station. The Americans witness the Norwegian passenger accidentally blow up the helicopter and himself. The Norwegian pilot fires a rifle and shouts at the Americans, but they cannot understand him and he is shot dead in self-defense by station commander Garry. The American helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady, and Dr. Copper leave to investigate the Norwegian base. Among the charred ruins and frozen corpses, they find the burned remains of a malformed humanoid which they recover to the American station. Their biologist, Blair, performs autopsies on the remains and finds a normal set of human organs.
The Thing (1982 film) | Plot
The film was loosely adapted by Charles Lederer, with uncredited rewrites from Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, from the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell; the story was first published in "Astounding Science Fiction" under Campbell's pseudonym Don A. Stuart (Campbell had just become "Astounding"s managing editor when his novella appeared in its pages). The film's screenplay changes the fundamental nature of the alien as presented in Campbell's 1938 novella: Lederer's "Thing" is a humanoid life form whose cellular structure is closer to vegetation, although it must feed on blood to survive; reporter Scott even refers to it in the film as a "super carrot".
The Thing from Another World | Screenplay
Clark kennels the sled dog, and it soon metamorphoses and absorbs the station dogs. This disturbance alerts the team and Childs uses a flamethrower to incinerate the creature. Blair autopsies the new creature and learns that it can perfectly imitate other organisms. Recovered Norwegian data leads the Americans to a large excavation site containing a partially buried alien spacecraft, and a smaller, human-sized dig site. Norris estimates that the alien ship has been buried for at least 100,000 years. Blair grows paranoid that the creature could assimilate all life on Earth in a matter of years. The station implements controls to reduce the risk of assimilation.
The Thing (1982 film) | Plot
In the winter of 1982, a buried alien spacecraft is discovered in Antarctica by Lars, Peder and Olav, members of a Norwegian research station, "Thule". American paleontologist Kate Lloyd is recruited by Dr. Sander Halvorson and his assistant Adam Finch to investigate. They fly to Thule in an American helicopter operated by Sam Carter, a pilot, Derek Jameson, co-pilot, and Griggs, a crewman. The scientists are met by station chief Edvard Wolner, Juliette, and Karl. After seeing the spacecraft, the scientists examine an alien body buried in the ice nearby, and make plans to excavate it. That evening, the new arrivals meet the rest of the base: Jonas, Henrik, Colin, and Lars's dog.
The Thing (2011 film) | Plot
Several writers developed drafts for "The Thing" before Carpenter became involved, including "Logan's Run" (1967) writer William F. Nolan, novelist David Wiltse, and Hooper and Henkel, whose draft was set at least partially underwater, and which Cohen described as a "Moby-Dick"-like story in which "The Captain" did battle with a large, non-shapeshifting creature. As Carpenter said in a 2014 interview, "they were just trying to make it work". The writers left before Carpenter joined the project. He said the scripts were "awful", as they changed the story into something it was not, and ignored the chameleon-like aspect of the Thing.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
Lancaster's original ending had both MacReady and Childs turn into the Thing. In the spring, the characters are rescued by helicopter, greeting their saviors with "Hey, which way to a hot meal?". Carpenter thought this ending was too shallow. In total, Lancaster completed four drafts of the screenplay. The novella concludes with the humans clearly victorious, but concerned that birds they see flying toward the mainland may have been infected by the Thing. 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. Lancaster wrote this ending, which eschews a "The Twilight Zone"-style twist or the destruction of the monster, as he wanted to instead have an ambiguous moment between the pair, of trust and mistrust, fear and relief.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
Just as Lovecraft left his creatures undescribed, the Thing can be seen, but its shape is mostly indescribable, beyond the realm of human knowledge. Grey said that MacReady represents a more traditional Hollywood film protagonist, but Blair represents the Lovecraftian protagonist, who succumbs to his fear of the creature, is driven insane by the implications of its nature, and eventually becomes what he fears.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
Developed in an era of cold-war tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, the film refers to the threat of nuclear annihilation by mutually assured destruction. "Diabolique"s Daniel Clarkson Fisher notes that MacReady destroys the chess computer after being checkmated, and similarly vows to destroy the Thing, even at the expense of the team. The Cold War-style isolationism hurts the group, while a lack of trust destroys it. Screen Rants Michael Edward Taylor draws allusions between "The Thing" and the accusatory Red Scares and McCarthyism, as the film conveys an anti-communist fear of infection of civilized areas that will lead to assimilation and imitation.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
In August 1979, Lancaster was contacted again. By this time he had read the original "Who Goes There?" novella, and Carpenter had become involved in the project. Lancaster was hired to write the script after describing his vision for the film, and his intention to stick closely to the original story, to Carpenter, who was a fan of Lancaster's work on "The Bad News Bears" (1976). Lancaster conceived several key scenes in the film, including the Norris-Thing biting Dr. Copper, and the use of blood tests to identify the Thing, which Carpenter cited as the reason he wanted to work on the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
In 2010, Peter Watts wrote the award-winning short story "The Things", retelling the novella's and 1982 film's events from the alien's point of view with a creative commons licence.
Who Goes There? | Introduction
the Extra-Terrestrial", the audience's silence at a "The Thing" trailer caused Foster to remark, "We're dead". 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. The tagline was also changed from "Man is the warmest place to hide"—written by Stephen Frankfort, who wrote the "Alien" tagline, "In space, no one can hear you scream"—to "The ultimate in alien terror," trying to capitalize on "Alien"s audience. Carpenter attempted to make a last-minute change of the film's title to "Who Goes There?", to no avail.
The Thing (1982 film) | Release
Helicopter pilot. Likes chess. Hates the cold. The pay is good." Lancaster aimed to create an ensemble piece where one person emerged as the hero, instead of having a Doc Savage-type hero from the start. Lancaster wrote approximately 30 to 40 pages, but eventually struggled writing the film's second act and it took him several months to complete the script. After it was finished, Lancaster and Carpenter spent a weekend in northern California refining the script, each having different takes on how a character should sound, and comparing their ideas for scenes. Lancaster's script opted to keep the creature largely concealed throughout the film, and it was Bottin who convinced Carpenter to make it more visible to have a greater impact on the audience.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
This detachment works against him in the finale, which leaves MacReady locked in a futile mistrust with Childs, each not really knowing the other. Nerdist's Kyle Anderson and "Strange Horizons"s Orrin Grey analyzed "The Thing" as an example of author H. P. Lovecraft's cosmic horror, the notion that ancient, inhuman beings exist that do not care about humanity in any way. This also includes the fear of losing one's humanity, and being consumed, figuratively or literally, by these ancient eldritch behemoths. The Thing is a being beyond our understanding and possesses the ability to destroy all life on Earth quickly.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
While "The Thing" was not initially successful, it was able to find new audiences and appreciation on home video, and later on television. Sidney Sheinberg edited a version of the film for network television broadcast, which added narration and a different ending, where the Thing imitates a dog and escapes the ruined camp. Carpenter disowned this version, and theorized that Sheinberg had been mad at him for not taking his creative ideas on board for the theatrical cut. "The Thing" was released on DVD in 1998 and featured additional content, such as "The Thing: Terror Takes Shape"—a detailed documentary on the production, deleted and alternate scenes, and commentary by Carpenter and Russell.
The Thing (1982 film) | Home media
This version maintains the digestions and transformations alluded to in the original novella, via practical effects such as animatronics and stop motion animation. A third adaptation, also titled "The Thing", was released on October 14, 2011. The 2011 acts as a prequel to the 1982 film, explaining the fate of the expedition which originally found the creature and its ship. The movie follows Carpenter's version, with the creature depicted using a combination of costume effects and computer-generated imagery.
Who Goes There? | Film
Glen Morgan began writing the episode after he read a "Science News" article about men in Greenland who found a 250,000-year-old item encased in ice. The setting—an icy, remote research base overcome by an extraterrestrial creature—is similar to that of John W. Campbell's 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" and its two feature-film incarnations: "The Thing from Another World" (1951), directed by Christian Nyby and produced by Howard Hawks, and "The Thing" (1982), directed by John Carpenter. Chris Carter has cited them as the main inspirations for the episode. As in the novella and films, the characters cannot trust each other because they are uncertain if they are who they seem to be.
Ice (The X-Files) | Conception and writing
"The Thing from Another World" (1951) is a loose adaptation of the original story. It features James Arness as the Thing, Kenneth Tobey as the Air Force officer, and Robert O. Cornthwaite as the lead scientist. In this adaptation, the alien is a humanoid invader (i.e., two arms, two legs, a head) from an unknown planet. A plant-based life form, the alien and its race need animal blood to survive. He, or rather it, is a one-alien army, capable of creating an entire army of invaders from seed pods contained in (his) body. The John Carpenter 1982 adaptation "The Thing", sticks more closely to Campbell's original story.
Who Goes There? | Film
This is why I've called you." ... Then when he showed me the film, later when I wrote the music, we didn't exchange ideas. He ran away, nearly ashamed of showing it to me. I wrote the music on my own without his advice. Naturally, as I had become quite clever since 1982, I've written several scores relating to my life. And I had written one, which was electronic music. And [Carpenter] took the electronic score. Carpenter said:
The Thing (1982 film) | Music
"The Thing" received nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films for Best Horror Film and Best Special Effects, but lost to "Poltergeist" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", respectively. The film was nominated in the Razzie Awards for Worst Musical Score.
The Thing (1982 film) | Accolades
The malformed humanoid creature assimilates an isolated Bennings, but Windows interrupts the process and MacReady burns the Bennings-Thing. Blair sabotages all the vehicles, kills the remaining sled dogs, and destroys the radio to prevent escape. The team imprisons him in a tool shed. Copper suggests a test to compare each member's blood against uncontaminated blood held in storage, but after learning that the blood stores have been destroyed, the men lose faith in Garry, and MacReady takes command.
The Thing (1982 film) | Plot
The plot was criticized as "boring", and undermined by the special effects. The "Los Angeles Times"s Linda Gross said that "The Thing" was "bereft, despairing, and nihilistic", and lacking in feeling, meaning the characters' deaths did not matter. Spencer said it featured sloppy continuity, lacked pacing, and was devoid of warmth or humanity. David Ansen of "Newsweek" felt the film confused the use of effects with creating suspense, and that it lacked drama by "sacrificing everything at the altar of gore". The "Chicago Reader"s Dave Kehr considered the dialogue to be banal and interchangeable, making the characters seem and sound alike.
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical response
The scene called for a set to be built on one of Universal's largest stages, with sophisticated hydraulics, dogs, and flamethrowers, but it was deemed too costly to produce. A scene was filmed with Bennings being murdered by an unknown assailant, but it was felt that assimilation, leading to his death, was not explained enough. Short on time, and with no interior sets remaining, a small set was built, Maloney was covered with K-Y Jelly, orange dye, and rubber tentacles. Monster gloves for a different creature were repurposed to demonstrate partial assimilation. 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.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
It was filmed as "The Thing from Another World" (1951), "The Thing" (1982), and again as "The Thing" (2011).
John W. Campbell | Writing career
"The Thing" was released in 1982 to very negative reviews. It was described as "instant junk", "a wretched excess", and proposed as the most-hated film of all time by film magazine "Cinefantastique". Reviews both praised the special effects achievements and criticized their visual repulsiveness, while others found the characterization poorly realised. The film earned $19.6million during its theatrical run. Many reasons have been cited for its failure to impress audiences: competition from films such as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", which offered an optimistic take on alien visitation; a summer that had been filled with successful science fiction and fantasy films; and an audience living through a recession, diametrically opposed to "The Thing"s nihilistic tone.
The Thing (1982 film) | Introduction
"The Washington Post"s Gary Arnold said it was a witty touch to open with the Thing having already overcome the Norwegian base, defeating the type of traps seen in the 1951 version, while "New York"s David Denby lamented that the Thing's threat is only shown externally, without focusing on what it is like for someone who thinks they have been taken over. Roger Ebert considered the film to be scary, but offering nothing original beyond the special effects, while "The New York Times"s Vincent Canby said it was entertaining only if the viewer needed to see spider-legged heads and dog autopsies.
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical response
Carpenter gave his approval to restore the ambiguous ending, but a scream was inserted over the outpost explosion to posit the monster's death. Universal executive Sidney Sheinberg disliked the ending's nihilism and, according to Carpenter, said, "Think about how the audience will react if we see the [Thing] die with a giant orchestra playing". Carpenter later noted that both the original ending and the ending without Childs tested poorly with audiences, which he interpreted as the film simply not being heroic enough.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
Contemporary review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes offers an 84% approval rating from 64 critics—an average rating of 7.39/10, which provides the consensus, "Grimmer and more terrifying than the 1950s take, John Carpenter's "The Thing" is a tense sci-fi thriller rife with compelling tension and some remarkable make-up effects." The film also has a score of 57 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 13 critical reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical reassessment
Stuntman Anthony Cecere stood in for the Palmer-Thing after MacReady sets it on fire and it crashes through the outpost wall.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
Many scenes involving characters speaking Norwegian were subtitled, and the language barrier between them and the English speaking characters is exploited to add to the film's feeling of paranoia. Director Matthijs van Heijningen said that the film would show the alien creature in its "pure form", as it was discovered in its ship by the Norwegians; however, it is not revealed whether this is the creature's original form or the form of another creature it had assimilated. Addressing rumors stating that John Carpenter wished to have a cameo appearance in the film, Carpenter himself corrected these in an interview for the fan site "Outpost 31", in August 2012.
The Thing (2011 film) | Development
A prequel film, "The Thing", was released in October 2011 to a $27.4million worldwide box office gross and mixed reviews. The story follows the events after the Norwegian team discovers the Thing. In 2020, Universal Studios and Blumhouse Productions announced the development of a remake of Carpenter's "The Thing". The remake was described as incorporating elements of "The Thing from Another World" and "The Thing", as well as the novella "Who Goes There?", and its expanded version, "Frozen Hell" that features several additional chapters. Although released years apart, and unrelated in terms of plot, characters, crew, or even production studios, Carpenter considers "The Thing" to be the first installment in his "Apocalypse Trilogy", a series of films based around cosmic horror, entities unknown to man, that are threats to both human life and the sense of self.
The Thing (1982 film) | Sequels
"Slant Magazine"s John Lingsan said the men display a level of post-Vietnam War (1955–1975) "fatigued counterculturalism"—the rejection of conventional social norms, each defined by their own eccentricities. Lancaster's script eschews female characters because he believed that a female character would be a love interest who inevitably gets in the way. "The Atlantic"s Noah Berlatsky said that unlike typical horror genre films, females are excluded, allowing the Thing to be identified as a fear of not being a man, or being homosexual. Indeed, several assimilations involve penetration, tentacles, and in Norris's case, opened up at the stomach to birth his own replica.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
Several filmmakers have spoken of their appreciation for "The Thing" or cited its influence on their own work, including Guillermo del Toro, James DeMonaco, J. J. Abrams, Neill Blomkamp, David Robert Mitchell, Rob Hardy, Steven S. DeKnight, and Quentin Tarantino. In 2011, "The New York Times" asked prominent horror filmmakers what film they had found the scariest. Two, John Sayles and Edgar Wright, cited "The Thing". The 2015 Tarantino film "The Hateful Eight" takes numerous cues from "The Thing", from featuring Russell in a starring role, to replicating themes of paranoia and mistrust between characters restricted to a single location, and even duplicating certain angles and layouts used by Carpenter and Cundey.
The Thing (1982 film) | Cultural impact
Albert Whitlock provided matte-painted backdrops, including the scene in which the Americans discover the giant alien spaceship buried in the ice. A scene where MacReady walks up to a hole in the ice where the alien had been buried was filmed at Universal, while the surrounding area including the alien spaceship, helicopter, and snow were all painted. Carpenter's friend John Wash, who developed the opening computer simulation for "Escape from New York", designed the computer program showing how the Thing assimilates other organisms. Model maker Susan Turner built the alien ship approaching Earth in the pre-credits sequence, which featured 144 strobing lights.
The Thing (1982 film) | Visuals and lighting
Carpenter remade the film due to "The Thing from Another World" being one of his favorite films, and the 1951 adaptation is an Easter egg in Carpenter's original "Halloween". Carpenter directed the film from a Bill Lancaster screenplay. Carpenter's idea was not to compete with the direction of the earlier film. In both the novella and this adaptation, the Thing can imitate any animal-based life form, absorbing the respective hosts' personalities and memories along with their bodies (although the telepathy aspect is omitted). When the story begins, the creature has already been discovered and released from the ice by another expedition.
Who Goes There? | Film
Drew Struzan designed the film's poster. He completed it in 24 hours, based only on a briefing, knowing little about the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Visuals and lighting
A 2002 video game of the same name was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and Xbox to generally favorable reviews. The game's plot follows a team of U.S. soldiers investigating the aftermath of the film's events. In 2005, the Syfy channel planned a four-hour miniseries sequel produced by Frank Darabont and written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. The story followed a Russian team who recover the corpses of MacReady and Childs, and remnants of the Thing. The story moves forward 23 years, where the Thing escapes in New Mexico, and follows the attempts at containment. The project never proceeded, and Universal opted to continue with a feature film sequel.
The Thing (1982 film) | Sequels
Lancaster said he found some difficulty in translating "Who Goes There?" to film, as it features very little action. He also made some significant changes to the story, such as reducing the number of characters from 37 to 12. Lancaster said that 37 was excessive and would be difficult for audiences to follow, leaving little screen time for characterization. He also opted to alter the story's structure, choosing to open his in the middle of the action, instead of using a flashback as in the novella. Several characters were modernized for contemporary audiences; MacReady, originally a meteorologist, became a tough loner described in the script as "35.
The Thing (1982 film) | Writing
The lack of information about the film's special effects drew the attention of film exhibitors in early 1982. They wanted reassurance that "The Thing" was a first-rate production capable of attracting audiences. Cohen and Foster, with a specially employed editor and Universal's archive of music, put together a 20-minute showreel emphasizing action and suspense. They used available footage, including alternate and extended scenes not in the finished film, but avoided revealing the special effects as much as possible. The reaction from the exclusively male exhibitors was generally positive, and Universal executive Robert Rehme told Cohen that the studio was counting on "The Thing"s success, as they expected "E.T.
The Thing (1982 film) | Release
I still regard that as the best story Campbell ever wrote, and the best horror tale in science fiction." The Thing is one of the aliens featured in "Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials" (1979; second edition 1987). Barlowe's main illustration depicts the Thing halfway through its transformation into a sled dog.
Who Goes There? | In literature
The week before its release, Carpenter promoted the film with clips on "Late Night with David Letterman". In 1981, horror magazine "Fangoria" held a contest encouraging readers to submit drawings of what the Thing would look like. Winners were rewarded with a trip to Universal Studios. On its opening day, a special screening was held at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, presided over by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, with free admission for those in costume as monsters.
The Thing (1982 film) | Release
Campbell, Jr.'s "Who Goes There?"". Jim Vejvoda of IGN Movies also rated the film two-and-a-half out of five, saying, "This incarnation of "The Thing" is much like the creature it depicts: An insidious, defective mimic of the real, er, thing. It's not an entirely lost cause, but it is a needless one." Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four, the same rating he gave the 1982 film. In Patrick Sauriol of Coming Attractions' review, he states, "Stack it up against John Carpenter's version and it looks less shiny, but let's face it, if you’re that kind of Thing fan you’re going to go see the new movie anyway.
The Thing (2011 film) | Reception
Who Goes There? is a science fiction horror novella by American writer John W. Campbell Jr., written under the pen name Don A. Stuart. It was first published in the August 1938 "Astounding Science Fiction". The novella has been adapted four times as a film: the first in 1951 as "The Thing from Another World"; the second in 1972 as "Horror Express", the third in 1982 as "The Thing," directed by John Carpenter; and most recently as a prequel to the Carpenter version, also titled "The Thing", released in 2011. A fifth film, again with Carpenter involved, is in development from Blumhouse Productions.
Who Goes There? | Introduction
Stuart). The film's storyline concerns a U.S. Air Force crew and scientists who find a crashed flying saucer and a humanoid body frozen in the Arctic ice, near the craft. Returning to their remote research outpost with the body still in a block of ice, they are forced to defend themselves against the still alive and malevolent plant-based alien when it is accidentally defrosted.
The Thing from Another World | Introduction
"The Thing"s special effects were largely designed by Bottin, who had previously worked with Carpenter on "The Fog" (1980). When Bottin joined the project in mid-1981, pre-production was in progress, but no design had been settled on for the alien. Artist Dale Kuipers had created some preliminary paintings of the creature's look, but he left the project after being hospitalized following a traffic accident before he could develop them further with Bottin. Carpenter conceived the Thing as a single creature, but Bottin suggested that it should be constantly changing and able to look like anything. Carpenter initially considered Bottin's description of his ideas as "too weird," and had him work with Ploog to sketch them instead.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
Carpenter, a fan of Hawks's adaptation, paid homage to it in "Halloween", and he watched "The Thing from Another World" several times for inspiration before filming began. Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey first worked together on "Halloween", and "The Thing" was their first big-budget project for a major film studio.
The Thing (1982 film) | Development
The central theme of "The Thing" concerns paranoia and mistrust. Fundamentally, the film is about the erosion of trust in a small community, instigated by different forms of paranoia caused by the possibility of someone not being who they say they are, or that your best friend may be your enemy. It represents the distrust that humans always have for somebody else and the fear of betrayal by those we know and, ultimately, our bodies. The theme remains timely because the subject of paranoia adapts to the age. "The Thing" focuses on being unable to trust one's peers, but this can be interpreted as distrust of entire institutions.
The Thing (1982 film) | Thematic analysis
Even so, the success of Ridley Scott's 1979 science fiction horror film "Alien" helped revitalize the project, at which point Carpenter became loosely attached following his success with his influential slasher film "Halloween" (1978). Carpenter was reluctant to join the project, for he thought Hawks's adaptation would be difficult to surpass, although he considered the film's monster to be unnotable. Cohen suggested that he read the original novella. Carpenter found the "creepiness" of the imitations conducted by the creature, and the questions it raised, interesting. He drew parallels between the novella and Agatha Christie's mystery novel "And Then There Were None" (1939), and noted that the story of "Who Goes There?" was "timely" for him, meaning he could make it "true to [his] day" as Hawks had in his time.
The Thing (1982 film) | Development
Development of the film began in the mid-1970s when producers David Foster and Lawrence Turman suggested to Universal Pictures an adaptation of the 1938 John W. Campbell novella "Who Goes There?". It had been loosely adapted once before in Howard Hawks's and Christian Nyby's 1951 film "The Thing from Another World", but Foster and Turman wanted to develop a project that stuck more closely to the source material. 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. In 1976, Wilbur Stark had purchased the remake rights to 23 RKO Pictures films, including "The Thing from Another World", from three Wall Street financiers who did not know what to do with them, in exchange for a return when the films were produced.
The Thing (1982 film) | Development
In the original ending, Kate was to discover the original pilots of the spaceship which had all been killed by The Thing, which was an escaped specimen they had collected from another planet, implying that the ship was crashed in an attempt to kill the monster. "I liked that idea because it would be the Norwegian camp in space. Kate sees the pod room and one pod being broken, giving her the clues what happened. What didn't work was that she wanted to find Sander and stop the ship from taking off and still solve the mystery in the ship.
The Thing (2011 film) | Filming and post-production
The Thing from Another World, sometimes referred to as just The Thing, is a 1951 American black-and-white science fiction-horror film, directed by Christian Nyby, produced by Edward Lasker for Howard Hawks' Winchester Pictures Corporation, and released by RKO Pictures. The film stars Margaret Sheridan, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Cornthwaite, and Douglas Spencer. James Arness plays The Thing, but he is difficult to recognize in costume and makeup due to both low lighting and other effects used to obscure his features. "The Thing from Another World" is based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell (writing under the pseudonym of Don A.
The Thing from Another World | Introduction
The film received negative reviews on its release, and hostility for its cynical, anti-authoritarian tone and graphic special effects. "Cinefantastique" printed an issue with "The Thing" on its cover asking, "Is this the most hated movie of all time?" Some reviewers were dismissive of the film, calling it the "quintessential moron movie of the 80's," "instant junk," and a "wretched excess". "Starlog"s Alan Spencer called it a "cold and sterile" horror movie attempting to cash in on the genre audience, against the "optimism of "E.T.", the reassuring return of "Star Trek II", the technical perfection of "Tron", and the sheer integrity of "Blade Runner"".
The Thing (1982 film) | Critical response
Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics created the practical creature effects for the film. In addition to creating the effects for the human-Thing transformations, Gillis, Woodruff and their team had the challenge of coming up with the look of the alien in the ice block unearthed by the Norwegians. While it was initially only intended to be shown as a silhouette, the director liked their designs and encouraged them to fully create the creature, which was realised by creating a monster suit that Tom Woodruff wore. The effects team opted to use cable-operated animatronics over more complex hydraulic controls, as they felt they gave a more "organic feel".
The Thing (2011 film) | Filming and post-production
Blair performs an autopsy on the creature and reveals that the dog had been assimilated by an alien creature capable of absorbing and perfectly imitating other life forms. MacReady returns to the Norwegian base and discovers that the Norwegian team had uncovered a spacecraft in the ice. While MacReady is away, Bennings is assimilated and returns to find Blair has sabotaged the helicopters and tractors, killed the remaining dogs and is currently in the process of demolishing the communications room with a fire axe. MacReady subdues Blair and locks him in the tool shed. The crew individually becomes increasingly paranoid and discover that the remaining blood samples had been destroyed and Fuchs had committed suicide before The Thing could assimilate him fully.
R.J. MacReady | "The Thing" (1982)
The interior of the crashed alien spacecraft was created by production designer Sean Haworth. To design the ship, Haworth had to recreate what little was shown of the spacecraft in the Carpenter film, then "fill the gaps" for what was not originally shown. Haworth and a team of approximately twelve others then created the inside of the ship as a several story-high interior set constructed mostly out of a combination of foam, plaster, fiberglass, and plywood. The ship was designed specifically to look as if it were not made to accommodate humans, but rather alien creatures of different size and shape who could walk on any surface.
The Thing (2011 film) | Filming and post-production
Since its release, cultural historians and critics have attempted to understand what led to "The Thing"s initial failure to connect with audiences. In a 1999 interview, Carpenter said audiences rejected "The Thing" for its nihilistic, depressing viewpoint at a time when the United States was in the midst of a recession. When it opened, it was competing against the critically and commercially successful "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" ($619million), a more family-friendly film released two weeks earlier that offered a more optimistic take on alien visitation. Carpenter described it as the complete opposite of his film. "The Thing" opened on the same day as the science fiction film "Blade Runner", which debuted as the number two film that weekend with a take of $6.1million and went on to earn $33.8million.
The Thing (1982 film) | Box office
Ennio Morricone composed the film's score, as Carpenter wanted "The Thing" to have a European musical approach. Carpenter flew to Rome to speak with Morricone to convince him to take the job. By the time Morricone flew to Los Angeles to record the score, he had already developed a tape filled with an array of synthesizer music because he was unsure what type of score Carpenter wanted. Morricone wrote complete separate orchestral and synthesizer scores and a combined score, which he knew was Carpenter's preference. Carpenter picked a piece, closely resembling his own scores, that became the main theme used throughout the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Music
"The Thing" was storyboarded extensively by Mike Ploog and Mentor Huebner before filming began. Their work was so detailed that many of the film's shots replicate the image layout completely. Cundey pushed for the use of anamorphic format aspect ratio, believing that it allowed for placing several actors in an environment, and making use of the scenic vistas available, while still creating a sense of confinement within the image. It also enabled the use of negative space around the actors to imply something may be lurking just offscreen. Principal photography began on August 24, 1981, in Juneau, Alaska. Filming lasted approximately 12 weeks.
The Thing (1982 film) | Filming
During takeoff, Kate discovers dental fillings in a bloodied shower. She runs outside to flag down the helicopter. When it attempts to land, Griggs transforms into a monstrous creature, attacking Olav. The helicopter spins out of control, crashing in the mountains. Kate finds the shower has been cleaned up and tells the team that the alien organism can assimilate and imitate its victims, revealing that it is now living among them after showing bloody dental fillings from the shower. Noting that Thule's helicopter is away for refueling at Halley, Edvard orders the team to drive to the closest base and they ignore her warning.
The Thing (2011 film) | Plot
"The Thing" was followed by "Prince of Darkness" in 1987, and "In the Mouth of Madness" in 1994. All three films are heavily influenced by Carpenter's appreciation for the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
The Thing (1982 film) | Sequels
The next day, the body is excavated in a block of ice, which gradually melts in storage. In the evening, while the team is celebrating the discovery, Jameson sees the alien burst from the ice. The team searches for the creature, finding Lars's dog dead. The alien is found; it kills Henrik by dragging him into itself, spattering blood on Olav. The group burns the alien, killing it. An autopsy finds a metal implant of Henrik's outside of his body, and further that the alien's cells were copying Henrik's. Olav falls ill. The next morning, the helicopter crew departs with Olav, for McMurdo.
The Thing (2011 film) | Plot
An HD DVD version followed in 2006 containing the same features, and a Blu-ray version in 2008 featuring just the Carpenter and Russell commentary, and some behind-the-scenes videos available via picture-in-picture during the film. A 2016 Blu-ray release featured a 2K resolution restoration of the film, overseen by Dean Cundey. 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.
The Thing (1982 film) | Home media
He wanted to try filming the creature at fast and slow speeds thinking this would create a more interesting visual effect, but they were unable to accomplish this at the time. For the rest of the set, Cundey created a contrast by lighting the interiors with warmer lights hung overhead in conical shades so that they could still control the lighting and have darkened areas on set. The outside was constantly bathed in a cold, blue light that Cundey had discovered being used on airport runways. The reflective surface of the snow and the blue light helped create the impression of coldness.
The Thing (1982 film) | Visuals and lighting
The doll would later appear as a jump scare with Nauls. Other scenes featured expanded or alternate deaths for various characters. In the finished film, Fuchs's charred bones are discovered, revealing he has died offscreen, but an alternate take sees his corpse impaled on a wall with a shovel. Nauls was scripted to appear in the finale as a partly assimilated mass of tentacles, but in the film he simply disappears. Carpenter struggled with a method of conveying to the audience what assimilation by the creature actually meant. Lancaster's original set piece of Bennings's death had him pulled beneath a sheet of ice by the Thing, before resurfacing in different areas in various stages of assimilation.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
Anderson pulled the tentacles into the Dog-Thing and reverse motion was used to create the effect of them slithering from its body. Winston refused to be credited for his work, insisting that Bottin deserved sole credit; Winston was given a "thank you" in the credits instead. In the "chest chomp" scene, Dr. Copper attempts to revive Norris with a defibrillator. Revealing himself as the Thing, Norris-Thing's chest transforms into a large mouth that severs Copper's arms. Bottin accomplished this scene by recruiting a double amputee and fitting him with prosthetic arms filled with wax bones, rubber veins and Jell-O. The arms were then placed into the practical stomach mouth where the mechanical jaws clamped down on them, at which point the actor pulled away, severing the false arms.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
Bottin's crew also included mechanical aspect supervisor Dave Kelsey, make-up aspect coordinator Ken Diaz, moldmaker Gunnar Ferdinansen, and Bottin's longtime friend Margaret Beserra, who managed painting and hair work. In designing the Thing's different forms, Bottin explained that the creature had been all over the galaxy. This allowed it to call on different attributes as necessary, such as stomachs that transform into giant mouths and spider legs sprouting from heads. Bottin said the pressure he experienced caused him to dream about working on designs, some of which he would take note of after waking. One abandoned idea included a series of dead baby monsters, which was deemed "too gross".
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
Several scenes in the script were omitted from the film, sometimes because there was too much dialogue that slowed the pace and undermined the suspense. Carpenter blamed some of the issues on his directorial method, noting that several scenes appeared to be repeating events or information. Another scene featuring a snowmobile chase pursuing dogs was removed from the shooting script as it would have been too expensive to film. One scene present in the film, but not the script, features a monolog by MacReady. Carpenter added this partly to establish what was happening in the story, and because he wanted to highlight Russell's heroic character after taking over the camp.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
In 2017, Mondo and the Project Raygun division of USAopoly released "The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31", a board game. Players take on the role of characters from the film or the Thing, each aiming to defeat the other through subterfuge and sabotage.
The Thing (1982 film) | Merchandise
The Thing is a 2002 third-person shooter survival horror video game developed by Computer Artworks and co-published by Universal Interactive under their Black Label Games publishing label and Konami. It was released for Windows, Xbox and PlayStation 2. GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions were also planned, but both were cancelled early in development. Set as a sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film of the same name, the story focuses on Captain Blake, a member of a U.S. Special Forces team sent to the Antarctic outpost featured in the film to determine what has happened to the research team. The game was endorsed by Carpenter, who voices a character in an uncredited cameo.
The Thing (video game) | Introduction
A watch is posted; Barnes relieves McPherson and, disturbed by the creature's appearance in the clearing ice, covers it with an electric blanket, which he does not realize is plugged in. The block slowly thaws and the creature, still alive, escapes into the storm and is attacked by the sled dogs. The airmen recover the creature's severed arm after the attack.
The Thing from Another World | Plot
The film's premise has been cited as an inspiration for screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's screenplay for Ridley Scott's 1979 film "Alien".
It! The Terror from Beyond Space | Introduction
A 4K resolution restoration was released in 2017 on Blu-ray, initially as a United Kingdom exclusive with a limited run of 8,000 units. The restoration was created using the original film negative, and was overseen by Carpenter and Cundey. MCA released the soundtrack for "The Thing" in 1982. Varèse Sarabande re-released it in 1991 on compact disc and Compact Cassette. These versions eventually ceased being manufactured. In 2011, Howarth and Larry Hopkins restored Morricone's score using updated digital techniques, and arranged each track in the order it appears in the film. The album also includes tracks composed by Carpenter and Howarth for the film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Home media
Bottin admitted he had no idea how his designs would be implemented practically, but Carpenter did not reject them. Carpenter said, "what I didn't want to end up with in this movie was a guy in a suit ... I grew up as a kid watching science-fiction monster movies, and it was always a guy in a suit." According to Cundey, Bottin was very sensitive about his designs, and worried about the film showing too many of them. At one point, as a preemptive move against any censorship, Bottin suggested making the creature's violent transformations and the appearance of the internal organs more fantastical using colors.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
He wrote at least two scripts for the cancelled "Return of the Thing", a four-hour sequel mini-series to John Carpenter's 1982 cult classic "The Thing". The project was ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons.
David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick | Life
The Stuff (also known as Larry Cohen's The Stuff) is a 1985 American satirical science fiction horror film written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Garrett Morris, Andrea Marcovicci, and Paul Sorvino. It was also the last film of noted actor Alexander Scourby.
The Stuff | Introduction
as director and Ronald D. Moore as writer. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. became involved in the project when his first planned feature film, a sequel to the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, a zombie film taking place in Las Vegas written and produced by Zack Snyder, who directed the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, and co-produced by Abraham and Newman, called "Army of the Dead", was cancelled by the studio three months before production began. Needing to start all over again, he asked his agent to see if there was a "The Thing" project in development, since "Alien" and "The Thing" are his favorite films.
The Thing (2011 film) | Development
A novelization of the film was published by Alan Dean Foster in 1982. It is based on an earlier draft of the script and features some differences from the finished film. A scene in which MacReady, Bennings, and Childs chase infected dogs out into the snow is included, and Nauls's disappearance is explained: Cornered by the Blair-Thing, he chooses suicide over assimilation. In 2000, McFarlane Toys released two "Movie Maniacs" figures: the Blair-Thing and the Norris-Thing, including its spider-legged, disembodied head. SOTA Toys released a set featuring a MacReady figure and the Dog-Thing based on the film's kennel scene, and a bust of the Norris-Thing's spider-head.
The Thing (1982 film) | Merchandise
Carpenter said that Lancaster's experience writing ensemble pieces did not emphasize single characters. Since "Halloween," several horror films had replicated many of the scare elements of that film, something Carpenter wanted to move away from for "The Thing." He removed scenes from Lancaster's script that had been filmed, such as a body suddenly falling into view at the Norwegian camp, which he felt were too clichéd. Approximately three minutes of scenes were filmed from Lancaster's script that elaborated on the characters' backgrounds. A scene with MacReady absentmindedly inflating a blow-up doll while watching the Norwegian tapes was filmed but was not used in the finished film.
The Thing (1982 film) | Post-production
In 2000, when Universal Interactive began looking through Universal Studios' back-catalogue of feature films with potential for adaptation as video game franchises, they quickly decided one of the most lucrative such intellectual properties was the 1982 film directed by John Carpenter, "The Thing". The film was based on the 1938 John W. Campbell short story "Who Goes There?", which had already been filmed by Howard Hawks in 1951 as "The Thing from Another World". Carpenter's version was the most widely known iteration of the story, however, and the ambiguous ending to the film was seen as particularly attractive in terms of a video game which could explore what happens "after" the events of the film.
The Thing (video game) | Development
The Thing of It Is... is a 1967 novel written by William Goldman about Amos McCracken, a 31-year-old man who has written a popular show tune and who is having marriage troubles. It was followed by a sequel, "Father's Day".
The Thing of It Is... | Introduction
the Extra-Terrestrial" to appeal only to children. While finalizing the film, Universal sent Carpenter a demographic study showing that the audience appeal of horror films had declined by 70% over the previous six months. Carpenter considered this a suggestion that he lower his expectations of the film's performance. After one market research screening, Carpenter queried the audience on their thoughts, and one audience member asked, "Well what happened in the very end? Which one was the Thing...?" When Carpenter responded that it was up to their imagination, the audience member responded, "Oh, God. I hate that." After returning from a screening of "E.T.
The Thing (1982 film) | Release
Stark later sued for a further $15million over Foster's comments. The outcome of the lawsuits is unknown.
The Thing (1982 film) | Aftermath
These two energies were in conflict."
The Thing (2011 film) | Filming and post-production
Mary Elizabeth Winstead insisted that the film would not feature any romantic or sexual elements with her character, as it would be inappropriate considering the tone of the film. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje said that the film would try to recreate the feeling of paranoia and distrust that the first film had, where the characters can't tell who has been infected by the alien. The filmmakers drew additional inspiration for the film from the original novel "Who Goes There?", in making the characters in the film educated scientists as opposed to "blue collar" workers. However, the filmmakers drew no influence from the events of "The Thing" video game.
The Thing (2011 film) | Development
When they return to their own ship, the Americans find that one of the West Germans, Hans Rudy Hofner (Klaus Kinski), has snuck aboard. He tells them how his crew was slain by the creature, which was buried with other organisms as part of a galactic menagerie. He proposes returning to his ship to get explosives, but the crew are unwilling to risk it.
Creature (1985 film) | Plot
Cook created a miniature model of the set and filmed wide-angle shots of the monster in stop motion, but Carpenter was not convinced by the effect and used only a few seconds of it. It took 50 people to operate the actual Blair-Thing puppet. The production intended to use a camera centrifuge—a rotating drum with a fixed camera platform—for the Palmer-Thing scene, allowing him to seem to run straight up the wall and across the ceiling. Again, the cost was too high and the idea abandoned for a stuntman falling into frame onto a floor made to look like the outpost's ceiling.
The Thing (1982 film) | Creature effects
MacReady faces off against the creature, attacking it with a stick of dynamite then proceeding to detonate the facility. Wandering through the wreckage, MacReady meets up with Childs, who claims to have gotten lost in the storm chasing Blair. MacReady is skeptical, but with no way to check if Childs is human or not, the two acknowledge their futility and share a drink as the cold closes in.
R.J. MacReady | "The Thing" (1982)
Ultimately, Kinner, the cook, is murdered and accidentally revealed to be a Thing. McReady realizes that even small pieces of the creature will behave as independent organisms. He then uses this fact to test which men have been "converted" by taking blood samples from everyone and dipping a heated wire in the vial of blood. Each man's blood is tested, one at a time, and the donor is immediately killed if his blood recoils from the wire; fourteen men in all, including Connant and Garry, are revealed to be aliens. The remaining men go to test the isolated Blair and on the way see the first albatross of the Antarctic spring flying overhead; they shoot the bird to prevent a Thing from infecting it and flying to civilization.
Who Goes There? | Plot
The Lost Thing is a picture book written and illustrated by Shaun Tan that was also adapted into an Academy Award-winning animated short film.
The Lost Thing | Introduction
Set in the near future, in dystopian Melbourne, Australia, "The Lost Thing" is a story about Shaun who enjoys collecting bottle tops for his bottle top collection. One day, while collecting bottle tops near a beach, he discovers a strange creature, that seems to be a combination of an industrial boiler, a crab, and an octopus. This creature is referred to as "The Lost Thing" by the narrator. Shaun realizes the creature is lost and out of place in Jupiter. He attempts to find its owner or otherwise its source but is not able to, due to the indifference of everyone else.
The Lost Thing | Plot
Who Goes There? is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer John W. Campbell, Jr.. It was published in 1948 by Shasta Publishers in an edition of 3,000 copies, of which 200 were signed by Campbell. The 1951 film "The Thing from Another World", and 1982 version "The Thing" by John Carpenter, are based on the title story. The stories originally appeared in the magazine "Astounding SF" under Campbell's pseudonym Don A. Stuart.
Who Goes There? (collection) | Introduction
It's a great film. But once we realized there was a new story to tell, with the same characters and the same world, but from a very different point of view, we took it as a challenge. It's the story about the guys who are just ghosts in Carpenter's movie – they're already dead. But having Universal give us a chance to tell their story was irresistible." In early 2009, "Variety" reported the launch of a project to film a prequel—possibly following MacReady's brother during the events leading up to the opening moments of the 1982 film—with Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
The Thing (2011 film) | Development
What characters, what bodies, finally exist in "What Where" are created by voice, less absent presences than present absences."
What Where | 1985
"The Thing" was released in the United States on June 25, 1982. During its opening weekend, the film earned $3.1million from 840 theaters—an average of $3,699 per theater—finishing as the number eight film of the weekend behind supernatural horror "Poltergeist" ($4.1million), which was in its fourth weekend of release, and ahead of action film "Megaforce" ($2.3million). It dropped out of the top 10 grossing films after three weeks. It ended its run earning a total of $19.6million against its $15million budget, making it only the 42nd highest-grossing film of 1982. It was not a box office failure, nor was it a hit.
The Thing (1982 film) | Box office