Movies
‘The Thing’ Prequel Writer/Director Confirmed
Variety just confirmed our exclusive news (without credit of course) that Matthijs Van Heijningen will be directing Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment’s The Thing prequel, which comes from a screenplay by Ron Moore. Fingers crossed they run with the prequel plan and avoid turning this into a remake. Beyond the break you can read the official announcement.
Universal will add a new chapter to “The Thing,” lining up another take on the paranoid horror classic most recently brought to the screen by John Carpenter in 1982.
Studio has set “Battlestar Galactica” exec producer Ron Moore to write the script and commercials director Matthijs Van Heijningen to direct the re-imagining.
New project borrows heavily from the John W. Campbell Jr. short story “Who Goes There,” the basis of the Carpenter film and 1951 Howard Hawks original “The Thing From Another World.”
It is set in a Norwegian camp and chronicles how the shape-shifting alien was first discovered and overcame the inhabitants of that camp. Strike Entertainment’s Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are producing. David Foster will be exec producer.
Van Heijningen has shot blurbs for brands including Toyota, Pepsi, Heineken, Bud Light and Visa. He is also developing “Army of the Dead” at Warner Bros. with producer Zack Snyder, who also crossed from commercials to features by directing the Strike-produced “Dawn of the Dead” remake.
Below is our exclusive look at the synopsis:
In the screenplay by Ronald D. Moore, the prequel takes place from the Norwegian camps point of view. An American scientific expedition to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the dog crashes leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. The team soon realize that an alien life-form with the ability to take over bodies is on the loose and they don’t know who may already have been taken over.
From LAIKA (Coraline, ParaNorman), the stop-motion fantasy adventure Wildwood opens in theaters on October 23 via Fathom Entertainment, and a new poster has arrived.
Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings, Masters of the Universe) directs from a script by Chris Butler (ParaNorman, Masters of the Universe), based on the 2011 children’s novel written by The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis.
In the upcoming Wildwood, “After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel launches a desperate rescue mission into the Impassable Wilderness—an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon.
“Joined by her hapless but loyal classmate Curtis Mehlberg, Prue navigates a world of talking animals, bandits, and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition.
“As the pair is drawn into a conflict threatening the balance of the forest itself, Prue must discover the strength and belief she never knew she possessed. If she hopes to save her brother and protect Wildwood’s fragile future, she will have to risk everything.”
The voice cast includes Carey Mulligan, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Richard E. Grant, Awkwafina, Amandla Stenberg, Tom Waits, Charlie Day, Blythe Danner, Arthur Knight, Maya Erskine, Jake Johnson, Tantoo Cardinal, Rob Delaney, Jemaine Clement, Marc Evan Jackson, Len Cariou, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Angela Bassett, and Mahershala Ali.
Described as “a sweeping adventure about love, sacrifice, and the magic that reveals itself when we dare to look beyond the familiar,” Wildwood is produced by Knight and Sam Wilson.
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