Development in 2001|alt=An elderly white man with a gray mustache and gray receding hair faces the camera with a neutral expression. Development of the film began in the mid-1970s when
David Foster and fellow producer
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' 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. Universal in turn acquired the rights to remake the film from Stark, resulting in him being given an executive producer credit on all print advertisements, posters, television commercials, and studio press material.
John Carpenter was first approached about the project in 1976 by co-producer and friend Stuart Cohen but Carpenter was mainly an independent film director, so Universal chose
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) director
Tobe Hooper as they had him under contract. The producers were ultimately unhappy with Hooper and his writing partner
Kim Henkel's concept. After several more failed
pitches by other writers and attempts to bring on other directors, such as
John Landis, the project was put on hold. 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, as he thought Hawks' adaptation would be difficult to surpass, although he was unimpressed with the film's monster. 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. Carpenter, a fan of Hawks' 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. After securing the writer and crew, the film was stalled again when Carpenter nearly quit, believing that a passion project of his,
El Diablo (1990), was on the verge of being made by
EMI Films. 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. Universal initially set a budget of $10million, with $200,000 for "creature effects", which at the time was more than the studio had ever allocated to a monster film. Filming was scheduled to be completed within 98 days. Universal's production studios estimated that it would require at least $17million before marketing and other costs, as the plan involved more set construction, including external sets and a large set piece for the original scripted death of Bennings, which was estimated to cost $1.5million alone. As
storyboarding and designs were finalized, the crew estimated they would need at least $750,000 for creature effects, a figure Universal executives agreed to after seeing the number of workers employed under
Rob Bottin, the
special make-up effects designer. Larry Franco was responsible for making the budget work for the film; he cut the filming schedule by a third, eliminated the exterior sets for on-site shooting, and removed Bennings' more extravagant death scene. Cohen suggested reusing the destroyed American camp as the ruined Norwegian camp, saving a further $250,000. When filming began in August,
The Thing had a budget of $11.4million, and indirect costs brought it to $14million. The effects budget ran over, totaling $1.5million, forcing the elimination of some scenes, including Nauls' confrontation of a creature dubbed the "box Thing". By the end of production, Carpenter had to make a personal appeal to executive
Ned Tanen for $100,000 to complete a simplified version of the Blair-Thing. The final cost was $12.4million, and overhead costs brought it to $15million.
Writing in 1967|alt=A black-and-white photo of a young white man with light-colored hair. He is wearing a cowboy hat and flannel shirt. He looks to the left of the camera, holding his left hand against the wall. 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. Carpenter did not want to write the project, 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. 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. 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. 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 thirty to forty pages but struggled with 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. Lancaster's original ending had 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.
Casting in 2012. He was cast for his
everyman persona which would allow audiences not to notice his absence from the story until the right time.|alt=An elderly white male with a long, white moustache. He is wearing a cowboy hat and striped waistcoat while holding a microphone. He is standing in front of a screen. Anita Dann served as casting director.
Kurt Russell had worked with Carpenter twice before and was involved in the production before being cast, helping Carpenter develop his ideas. Russell was the last actor to be cast, in June 1981, by which point
second unit filming was starting in
Juneau, Alaska. Carpenter wanted to keep his options open for the lead R. J. MacReady, and discussions with the studio considered
Christopher Walken,
Jeff Bridges, and
Nick Nolte, who were either unavailable or declined, and
Sam Shepard, who showed interest but was never pursued.
Tom Atkins and
Jack Thompson were strong early and late contenders for the role of MacReady but Russell got the part. In part, Carpenter cited the practicality of choosing someone he had found reliable before, and who would not baulk at the difficult filming conditions. It took Russell about a year to grow his hair and beard for the role. At various points, the producers also 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. Some passed on the idea of starring in a monster film, while Dennehy became the choice to play Copper. Each actor was to be paid $50,000, but after the more-established Russell was cast, his salary increased to $400,000.
Geoffrey Holder,
Carl Weathers, and
Bernie Casey were considered for the role of mechanic Childs, and Carpenter also looked at
Isaac Hayes, having worked with him on
Escape from New York.
Ernie Hudson was the front-runner and was almost cast until they met with
Keith David.
The Thing was David's first significant film role, and coming from a theater background, he had to learn on set how to hold himself back and not show every emotion his character was feeling, with guidance from
Richard Masur and
Donald Moffat in particular. Masur (dog handler Clark) and David discussed their characters in rehearsals and decided that they would not like each other. For senior biologist Blair, the team chose the unknown
Wilford Brimley, as they wanted an
everyman whose absence would not be questioned by the audience too soon. The intent with the character was to have him become infected early in the film but
offscreen, so that the audience would not know, concealing his intentions. Carpenter wanted to cast
Donald Pleasence, but it was decided that he was too recognizable to accommodate the role.
T. K. Carter was cast as the station's cook Nauls but the comedian,
Franklyn Ajaye, also came in to read for the role. Instead, he delivered a lengthy speech about the character being a stereotype, after which the meeting ended. Bottin lobbied hard to play assistant mechanic Palmer, but it was deemed impossible for him to do so alongside his existing duties. As the character has some comedic moments, Universal brought in comedians
Jay Leno,
Garry Shandling, and
Charles Fleischer, among others, but opted to go with actor
David Clennon, who was better suited to play the dramatic elements. Clennon had read for the Bennings character, but he preferred Palmer's "blue-collar stoner" role to a "white collar science man".
Powers Boothe,
Lee Van Cleef,
Jerry Orbach, and
Kevin Conway were considered for the role of station commander Garry, and
Richard Mulligan was also considered when the production experimented with the idea of making the character closer to MacReady in age. Masur also read for Garry, but he asked to play the dog handler Clark instead, as he liked the character's dialogue and was also a fan of dogs. Masur worked daily with the
wolfdog Jed and his handler, Clint Rowe, during rehearsals, as Rowe was familiarizing Jed with the sounds and smells of people. This helped Masur's and Jed's performance, as the dog would stand next to him without looking for his handler. Masur described his character as one uninterested in people, but who loves working with dogs. He went to a survivalist store and bought a flip knife for his character, and used it in a confrontation with David's character. Masur turned down a role in
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to play Clark.
William Daniels and Dennehy were both interested in playing Dr. Copper, and it was a last-second decision by Carpenter to go with
Richard Dysart. In early drafts, Windows was called Sanchez, and later Sanders. The name Windows came when the actor for the role, Thomas Waites, was in a costume fitting and tried on a large pair of dark glasses, which the character wears in the film. Russell described the all-male story as interesting since the men had no one to posture for without women.
Filming .|alt=A distance shot near Juneau, Alaska. The area is covered in untouched white snow with mountain peaks in the distance. To the right of the image, nearer the photographer, is an uncovered outcrop of rocks.
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. 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 about twelve weeks. Carpenter insisted on two weeks of rehearsals before filming as he wanted to see how scenes would play out. This was unusual at the time because of the expense involved. Filming then moved to the
Universal lot, where the outside heat was over . The internal sets were climate-controlled to to facilitate their work. The team considered building the sets inside an existing refrigerated structure but were unable to find one large enough. 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. 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. He rewrote some completed scenes to take place outdoors to be shot on location when principal photography moved to
Stewart, British Columbia. Carpenter was determined to use authentic locations instead of studio sets, and his successes on
Halloween and
The Fog (1980) gave him the credibility to take on the much bigger-budget production of
The Thing. A film scout located an area just outside Stewart, along the Canadian coast, which offered the project both ease of access and scenic value during the day. On December 2, 1981, roughly 100 American and Canadian crew members moved to the area to begin filming. During the journey there, the crew bus slid in the snow toward the unprotected edge of the road, nearly sending it down a embankment. Some of the crew stayed in the small mining town during filming, while others lived on residential barges on the
Portland Canal. They would make the drive up a small, winding road to the filming location in Alaska where the exterior outpost sets were built. The sets had been built in Alaska during the summer, atop a rocky area overlooking a glacier, in preparation for snow to fall and cover them. They were used for interior and exterior filming, meaning they could not be heated above freezing inside to ensure there was always snow on the roof. Outside, the temperature was so low that the camera lenses would freeze and break. The crew had to leave the cameras in the freezing temperatures, as keeping them inside in the warmth resulted in foggy lenses that took hours to clear. Filming, greatly dependent on the weather, took three weeks to complete, with heavy snow making it impossible to film on some days. Rigging the explosives necessary to destroy the set in the film's finale required 8 hours. Keith David broke his hand in a car accident the day before he was to begin shooting. David attended filming the next day, but when Carpenter and Franco saw his swollen hand, they sent him to the hospital where it was punctured with two pins. He returned wearing a surgical glove beneath a black glove that was painted to resemble his complexion. His left hand is not seen for the first half of the film. Carpenter filmed the Norwegian camp scenes after the end scenes, using the damaged American base as a stand-in for the charred Norwegian camp. The explosive destruction of the base required the camera assistants to stand inside the set with the explosives, which were activated remotely. The assistants then had to run to a safe distance while seven cameras captured the base's destruction. Filmed when the use of
special effects was rare, the actors had to adapt to having Carpenter describe to them what their characters were looking at, as the effects would not be added until post-production. There were some puppets used to create the impression of what was happening in the scene, but in other cases, the cast would be looking at a wall or an object marked with an
X. Art director
John J. Lloyd oversaw the design and construction of all the sets, as there were no existing locations used in the film. Cundey suggested that the sets should have ceilings and pipes seen on camera to make the spaces seem more claustrophobic.
Post-production 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 monologue 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. 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. About 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 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' charred bones are discovered, revealing he has died off-screen, but another 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 disappears. Carpenter struggled with a method of conveying to the audience what assimilation by the creature meant. Lancaster's original set piece of Bennings' death had him pulled beneath a sheet of ice by the Thing, before resurfacing in different areas in various stages of assimilation. 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. In the alternate take, MacReady is rescued and given a blood test that proves he is not infected. Carpenter said that stylistically this ending would have been "cheesy". Editor
Verna Fields was tasked with reworking the ending to add clarity and resolution. It was finally decided to create an entirely new scene, which omitted the suspicion of Childs being infected by removing him completely, leaving MacReady alone. This new ending tested only slightly better with audiences than the original, and the production team agreed to the studio's request to use it. It was set to go to print for theaters when the producers, Carpenter, and executive Helena Hacker decided that the film was better left with ambiguity instead of nothing at all. 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 the original ending and the ending without Childs tested poorly with audiences, which he interpreted as the film simply not being heroic enough.
Music 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. He also played the score from
Escape from New York for Morricone as an example. Morricone made several more attempts, bringing the score closer to Carpenter's own style of music. In total, Morricone produced a score of approximately one hour that remained largely unused but was later released as part of the film's soundtrack. Carpenter and his longtime collaborator
Alan Howarth separately developed some synth-styled pieces used in the film. In 2012, Morricone recalled, I've asked [Carpenter], as he was preparing some
electronic music with an assistant to edit on the film, "Why did you call me, if you want to do it on your own?" He surprised me, he said"I got married to your music. 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, [Morricone] did all the orchestrations and recorded for me 20 minutes of music I could use wherever I wished but without seeing any footage. I cut his music into the film and realized that there were places, mostly scenes of tension, in which his music would not work... I secretly ran off and recorded in a couple of days a few pieces to use. My pieces were very simple electronic piecesit was almost tones. It was not really music at all but just background sounds, something today you might even consider as sound effects. ==Design==