Screen Rant » the thing

Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: October 23, 2011

Niall Browne — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:57:23 +0000

This week:

Paranormal Activity 3 scares away the competition at the box office; it’s not all for one and one for all for The Three Musketeers - and Johnny English may be Reborn but he’s not topping the box office chart.

The Paranormal Activity franchise is the gift that keeps on giving to Paramount – the films are cheap to produce and they make back some serious coin. This latest installment is budgeted at $5 million, but it should gross over ten times that ($54 million) by Monday morning. The first Paranormal Activity cost just $15,000 (yeah – you read that right) and went on to score $107 million ($193 million globally) – while the sequel opened to $40 million on its way to $84 million ($177 million worldwide) from a $3 million budget.

Poised for a run ...

Click to continue reading Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: October 23, 2011

SR Underground Ep. 9: ‘The Thing’

Ben Kendrick — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:00:15 +0000

The Screen Rant editorial team is back with episode nine of the Screen Rant Underground.

Join host Ben Kendrick as well as fellow SR editors Rob Keyes, Anthony Ocasio, and Kofi Outlaw as we tackle Walking Dead premiere backlash, discuss the NYCC Avengers footage, and contemplate the Hulk’s love life as well as review The Thing prequel starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton.

Screen Rant Underground is available in the iTunes Music Store but if you’re not near your home computer, check out our ninth episode in the player below. As mentioned in previous posts, we’re still in the early stages of developing the show – so cut us a little slack as we get this thing off the ground.

Also, Screen Rant Underground is an EXPLICIT podcast. We don’t go out of our way to say controversial things or ...

Click to continue reading SR Underground Ep. 9: ‘The Thing’

Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: October 16th, 2011

Niall Browne — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:38:59 +0000

This week:

Real Steel knocks out the competition to retain the top spot; Footloose shows fancy footwork to come a close second; The Thing leaves audiences cold and The Big Year is a huge disaster.It was a close call, but according to early estimates Hugh Jackman’s Real Steel held on to the top spot during a very weedy weekend. The robot boxing movie dipped around 40% for a weekend take of almost $16.3 million. That figure ups the gross to $51.7 million – a decent number, but not spectacular given the films $100 million-plus budget. It’ll struggle to get near the century mark on its domestic release, so it’ll need strong foreign grosses to be profitable.

Paramount Picture’s Footloose remake (read our review) failed to kick-off its Sunday shoes; ...

Click to continue reading Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: October 16th, 2011

‘The Thing’ Director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. On Prequels & Effects

Roth Cornet — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 22:45:48 +0000

The Thing, the prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 beloved sci-fi horror by the same name, opens in theaters this weekend.

Acting as a direct prelude to Carpenters film, The Thing (2011) follows American paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) as she travels to Antarctica where a Norwegian research team has unearthed an alien space craft and a creature frozen in ice for millions of years. When an experiment revives and unleashes the shape-shifting alien, Kate and the Norwegian crew find themselves in a gruesome fight for their lives.

The stakes are raised even further when they realize that any one of them could be the enemy in disguise. Battling fear, paranoia and a seemingly unstoppable enemy, Kate and the team’s helicopter pilot Carter (Joel Edgerton) join forces to exterminate the alien before it has the opportunity to infect the population at large.

We ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. On Prequels & Effects

‘The Thing’ Spoilers Discussion

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:38:17 +0000

While we do have a The Thing review post where you can leave comments, we’ve set up this as a place where you can discuss Thing spoilers without concerns about ruining the movie for folks who haven’t seen it yet.

If you’re posting comments here, assume that anyone in the conversation has seen the movie – if you haven’t seen the movie, I would recommend you don’t read the comments here until you have.

There’s plenty to discuss about this movie, including the many connections and Easter egg nods to John Carpenter’s 1982 original. Lets get to it! Leave your thoughts and or comments!

You can also rate the movie for yourself using our poll below:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Spoilers Discussion

‘The Thing’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:55:41 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Reviews The Thing

Much like the titular alien creature, this 2011 version of The Thing purports itself to be one thing, when it is in fact something else. While it is labeled as the prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 film of the same name, in many ways – largely as a result of some derivative scriptwriting – this film is a beat-for-beat remake of Carpenter’s film, only with far less imagination and a forgone outcome.

Thankfully, the combined strength of the premise and an effectively scary monster save The Thing 2011 from being a total waste.

The story takes us back to 1982 Antarctica, where paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) has been recruited to help excavate the monumental discovery of an alien life form frozen within the tundra. Kate is trepidatious about messing ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Review

Mary Elizabeth Winstead Talks ‘The Thing,’ Flamethrowers & Kurt Russell

Roth Cornet — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:12:51 +0000

This weekend, fans of John Carpenter’s horror-classic The Thing will be given an answer to the question that has haunted them since the film’s release in 1982: What, exactly, happened at the Norwegian camp? For those who are not familiar with The Thing, “the Norwegian camp” refers to the group whose remains were found by R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell) and his fellow American scientists at the beginning of the John Carpenter-directed original.

Though it has the same title, The Thing, functions as a direct prequel to its predecessor. It begins with the events that lead to release of the shape-shifting alien featured in the original film. Though it has the same basic premise as 1982s The Thing (the discovery of an alien life-form at an Antarctica research site leads to a deadly ...

Click to continue reading Mary Elizabeth Winstead Talks ‘The Thing,’ Flamethrowers & Kurt Russell

‘The Thing’ Clip #2 Features A Failure To Communicate

Sandy Schaefer — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:47:45 +0000

Universal’s prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing – which is also (confusingly) titled The Thing – isn’t looking all that good right now. Even the sci-fi/horror flick’s red band trailer and recent TV spots have failed to suggest this new Thing will amount to much more than a generic cliché that fails to recapture the troubling atmosphere – or recreate the practical and creepy monster effects – of its predecessor.

A second clip from director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.’s Thing prequel has been released online – but does it have anything to offer, as far as combating the negative buzz currently surrounding this film?

It does, actually – to a degree. Heijningen’s film tells the story of a doomed scientific expedition composed of both Norwegians and Americans – with the latter group including paleontologist Kate ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Clip #2 Features A Failure To Communicate

‘The Thing’ Red Band Trailer Features Gruesome Creature Violence

Sandy Schaefer — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:15:11 +0000

Anyone who has seen John Carpenter’s 1982 cult classic sci-fi/horror flick, The Thing, has a pretty good idea about what to expect from next month’s prequel of the same name. There’s some flexibility, in terms of exactly which characters do (or don’t) survive – otherwise, their final destinations are basically set in stone.

Part of the appeal of next month’s prequel – which is (somewhat confusingly) also titled The Thing – is more the promise that modern-day special effects will be used to bring the film’s namesake to (horrific) life. Those who don’t want to wait until the flick hits theaters can now check out the disgusting monster in the newly-released red band trailer.

The Thing starlet Mary Elizabeth Winstead has spoken out before about the titular creature – which was briefly glimpsed ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Red Band Trailer Features Gruesome Creature Violence

‘The Thing’ TV Spots Tease New Creature Effects

Sandy Schaefer — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:07:50 +0000

A lot of people still seem to be under the misapprehension that this fall’s The Thing is a remake of John Carpenter’s cult-classic sci-fi/horror thriller – not only because it has the same title, but also due to the virtually identical plots of the two films (namely, scientists in the Antarctic discover a chameleon-like parasite that kills them one by one).

The Thing trailer helped reverse misconceptions by revealing that this new movie actually revolves around the doomed Norwegian expedition that uncovered the titular extraterrestrial, prior to the events of Carpenter’s 1982 film. However, the footage unveiled from the Thing prequel was also so similar to its predecessor that it left many people wondering whether the new movie would still feel like a remake (or, rather, a ripoff).

A clip from The Thing was ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ TV Spots Tease New Creature Effects

‘The Thing’ Prequel Clip: Mr. Eko Is Easily Rattled

Sandy Schaefer — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:57:32 +0000

Anyone who’s seen John Carpenter’s 1982 sci-fi paranoia thriller, The Thing, has long wondered exactly what happened to the Norwegian research team that encountered the titular creature, prior to the events of the film.

Okay, most people probably assumed they were all killed – save for the survivors who were chasing down the monster (in dog form), during the beginning of Carpenter’s movie. Nonetheless, a prequel that is (confusingly) also titled The Thing will be released soon, and promises to reveal the truth about that doomed scientific expedition.

The Thing teaser trailer was released a while ago, but it mostly indicated that director Matthijs van Heijningen had crafted a film almost identical to Carpenter’s. An actual clip has been released from the prequel, suggesting that the film will at least try attempt to be as scary ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Prequel Clip: Mr. Eko Is Easily Rattled

‘The Thing’ Teaser Trailer: A Familiarly Creepy Horror Flick

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:40:15 +0000

A lot of people are still confused about just what The Thing is. No, we don’t mean the shape-shifting alien monster that can take on the form of seemingly any living thing it comes into contact with. By now, people are all too familiar with the iconic creature of John Carpenter’s 1982 film. In fact, the use of defibrillators has never been the same since that movie came out (neither has the old game of “bind your friends to the couch”).

No, what we mean is: a lot of people are still confused about what this MOVIE, The Thing, is. Is it a prequel, a remake, a reboot? Surf the Web enough and you can find people complaining about it under all three labels.

The truth of the matter is that this 2011 version of The Thing is actually ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Teaser Trailer: A Familiarly Creepy Horror Flick

New ‘Thing’ Prequel & Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’ Posters

Sandy Schaefer — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:20:45 +0000

It’s already been a good week for movie posters, what with the Dark Knight Rises teaser poster and a pair of Sherlock Holmes 2 one-sheets having been released. Now there are two more promotional images for everyone to take a gander at: The posters for this fall’s prequel, The Thing, and Martin Scorsese’s first foray into the world of 3D family-friendly filmmaking, Hugo.

Universal will unleash The Thing in theaters first around mid-October, hoping to grab the attention of the horror crowd before Paranormal Activity 3 hits the scene a week later.

To clarify: The Thing reportedly leads directly into the events of… The Thing, as was directed by John Carpenter back in 1982. That film was a semi-remake of the 1951 picture, The Thing from Another World, which ...

Click to continue reading New ‘Thing’ Prequel & Martin Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’ Posters

Movie Image Roundup: ‘Sucker Punch’, ‘Conan the Barbarian’, ‘Charlie’s Angels’ & More

Paul Young — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:52:01 +0000

In general, most people hate Mondays because their weekend has come to a close and the only thing there is to look forward to is lunch – but the start of the work week doesn’t always have to be dreaded and feared. We here at Screen Rant feel your pain and despair, and to help ease you back into the work week we have brought you another round of images from some of the best upcoming films Hollywood has to offer.

In today’s roundup we go heavy on the horror and sexy women, throw in a splash of indie drama and a couple twists of animation to give you 47 images representing 17 films. We have images from the following films sorted below, according to their date of release:

Sucker Punch, Scream 4, Insidious,
Click to continue reading Movie Image Roundup: ‘Sucker Punch’, ‘Conan the Barbarian’, ‘Charlie’s Angels’ & More

The Worst Belated Movie Sequels

Paul Young — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:17:29 +0000

There is no getting around the fact that sequels to popular movies are a way of life in Hollywood. If a movie has a strong box office showing then, inevitably, a sequel (or two) won’t be too far behind.

A sequel to a film based on a series of books is to be expected: The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Twilight Saga, as are films that are usually cheap and easy to produce: Saw, Friday the 13th, or Nightmare on Elm Street. Also films that have a well established mythos: Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman, Superman are almost always expected to have multiple sequels.

Typically, most of these sequels have ...

Click to continue reading The Worst Belated Movie Sequels

NASA Announcement: In Which Alien Category Does It Belong?

Paul Young — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:06:15 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, don’t have access to the internet, or have been immersed in a 24 hour marathon session of World of Warcraft, then you should be fully aware of the NASA announcement stating that they discovered a new (alien) life form living in a lake bed in California. Well not really “alien” but that’s what some are calling it – since it’s so completely different than any existing life form.

Here is the official quote from NASA Research Fellow Felisa Wolfe-Simon if you haven’t had the chance to read it yet:

“We know that some microbes can breathe arsenic, but what we’ve found is a microbe doing something new — building parts of itself out of arsenic. If something here on Earth can do something so unexpected, what ...

Click to continue reading NASA Announcement: In Which Alien Category Does It Belong?

‘The Thing’ Producer Talks Date Change; Reshoots

Ben Moore — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 02:41:09 +0000

John Carpenter’s The Thing may very well be one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Though it was utterly unsuccessful when originally released—in the same era as Steven Spielberg’s E.T.—it enjoyed a massive resurgence in the decades that followed.

There have been a number of sequels/prequels/remakes to John Carpenter’s The Thing planned, proposed, announced, and (thankfully) scrapped over the past ten years, but the only one to make it out of development hell is the prequel known, simply, as The Thing (2011). Last week, news broke that it wouldn’t be making its April release date for then unknown reasons and today, producer Marc Abraham is discussing why.

Courtesy of Drew McWeeny at Hit Fix, Abraham promises that there’s nothing to ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Thing’ Producer Talks Date Change; Reshoots

SR Pick [Video]: The United Monster Talent Agency Short Film Entertains

Paul Young — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:16:31 +0000

Every Halloween I feel the need to pull out my classic creature films and watch at least two a week leading up to October 31st. The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, Dracula and Creature from the Black Lagoon are just a few of the films I watch each year.

Classic film buffs will recognize names like Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Max Schreck and Bela Lugosi as the men behind the classic creatures of horror – but what if those creatures weren’t played by actors but rather by the creatures themselves? How would a director or studio go about hiring one of these classic horror movie icons?

AMC has teamed up with The Walking Dead’s special FX make-up designer Greg Nicotero to bring us the short film titled ...

Click to continue reading SR Pick [Video]: The United Monster Talent Agency Short Film Entertains

Interviews With ‘The Thing’ Prequel Director and Producers

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:35:35 +0000

I had a chance to attended Universal’s panel and press line for The Thing prequel during the New York Comic-Con, and I have to say that the crowd was pretty satisfied with the teaser footage that was screened at the convention.

During the press line I had a chance to speak with producers of The Thing prequel, Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, as well as Matthijs van Heijningen, a former commercial director who is making the jump to feature films with this prequel.

For those who don’t know, Carpenter’s Thing was a remake of a 1950s movie that was itself an adaptation of a 1938 novella. The premise is that an alien life-form is discovered buried in the Antarctic ice by a group of scientists, who discover that the alien is a shape-shifter able can copy any life-forms it comes into ...

Click to continue reading Interviews With ‘The Thing’ Prequel Director and Producers

First Official Images from ‘The Thing’ Prequel

Niall Browne — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:02:43 +0000

John Carpenter’s The Thing is probably one of the most beloved science fiction/horror films of all time. Even though it was a box office failure when it was released in 1982, the film has garnered cult status and a large following. When news began circulating about a remake, there was a larger uproar – ultimately subsiding when it was revealed the new film would be a prequel showing the events that preceded Carpenter’s original film.

The Thing news has been quite scarce lately but today we’ve got official images from the film – ahead of the first footage being shown at New York City Comic Con. So does it look like the new film matches up to Carpenter’s classic?

The Thing‘s marketing campaign is kicking-in, leading up the film’s April 29th release - UGO has released details of ...

Click to continue reading First Official Images from ‘The Thing’ Prequel