First Casting News for 'The Thing' Prequel
02.08.10 By: Mike Bracken
Universal's much-debated prequel to John Carpenter's classic monster flick The Thing is set to start filming this March, and since that's right around the proverbial corner, it makes sense that the first bits of casting info for the film are starting to emerge.THR's Heat Vision blog has the scoop on the first two actors who'll be getting stranded in Antarctica and one of them is troubling to me in a serious way.
According to the article, Joel Edgerton will be playing a "mercenary helicopter pilot" who teams up with Ph.D. candidate played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead to stop the shape-shifting alien organism after it's freed from a recently discovered UFO buried in the Antarctic ice.
Edgerton is best known for playing Uncle Owen (Luke's stepfather) in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Winstead played Bruce Willis' daughter in Live Free or Die Hard.
The troubling thing here--if you get past the fact that Edgerton is basically a poor man's MacReady and proof that Hollywood didn't want to cast a foreign leading man--is the casting of Winstead. Carpenter's film featured no women and it was better for it. There was no sexual tension, no potential love interest, no contrived romances...it was just a group of men trying to survive and kill a monster they couldn't even begin to comprehend. That will almost certainly change in the prequel. Can The Thing still be a great movie with a woman as one of the leads? Of course. I'm just not convinced it will be because it's really easy to imagine how this story is going to play out.
What do you guys think? Are you happy with this casting or does this news make you think a prequel to The Thing is doomed to failure? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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Reader Comments (1 of 1)
Midnight13at 2-08-2010
I think its pretty close minded to think just because a this movie will have a female character/actress in the film it will mean the movie will be less horrifying or "ballsy". Would you say that about "Alien"? You're assuming there will be a romantic storyline, perhaps they merely want to make the research team co-ed and not a boy's only situation. Its to early to conclude what the writers of the film have in mind.
Mike Brackenat 2-08-2010
I'd love to be as optimistic as you are, but alas I'm just not. I mentioned that the inclusion of a female character doesn't automatically mean the film will be awful, but let's look at Hollywood's track record with these sorts of things.
For every Ellen Ripley, we've got at least a thousand movies where the woman is a love interest/damsel in distress. I'd love to see the film have a Ripley-esque character, but the law of averages leads me to believe that's not going to happen.
Plus I'd really prefer if they just stuck to all men. It worked flawlessly last time out, and I always say if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Mike B.
avens1981at 2-09-2010
I too, am having a difficult time with a prequel being made for this great movie. I LOVED The Thing and I still do. Hollywood haven't done justice with remaking or creating classic horror films lately. Case in point, The original Carpenter's "Halloween" is still considered one of the best horror movies EVER made. What Zombie has done to the franchise is beyond repair.
To answer your question about a female casting...I believe you are right about an all male cast working brilliantly on the first film. It added depth to the atmosphere of the movie. I agree that a woman in the movie would not hurt the film, but it works perfectly without her. I also don't believe it's fair to compare this to Ripley, because she was not the only woman cast in Alien. And lets go back to the "The Thing". There were no signs of a female body anywhere. We can already assume that the female lead in the prequel will die off.