Movies
Director Found For ‘The Thing’ Prequel
Two weeks back we brought you the official shooting synopsis for Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment’s The Thing prequel, now we have a bit more on the project that was scripted by Ronald D. Moore. Beyond the break you can learn about who the main character might be and also check out who we’re told could be directing this major sci-fi horror project.
Bloody-Disgusting has learned this morning that Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. is in talks to direct THE THING prequel for Strike and Universal Pictures, although we don’t have official confirmation. Heijningen has already been attached to direct ARMY OF THE DEAD for Zack Snyder’s Strike Entertainment.
Something else we found interesting is that we’re told that van Heijningen is pushing to make the lead character none other than R.J. Macready’s brother! As you all know, R.J. Macready was played by the awesome Kurt Russell in John Carpenter’s remake from 1982.
As of right now this should be taken as rumor as nothing is set in stone. Just some food for thought… what do you guys think?
Here’s 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.”
The trailer for Ti West’s upcoming adaptation of A Christmas Carol raised a lot of eyebrows when it dropped earlier this week. While plenty of folks initially dismissed Ebenezer as a derivative project meant to cash in on the recent wave of unnecessary prequels that expand the backstory of beloved characters (such as 2023’s Wonka), Charles Dickens’ original novel already made a point of exploring Ebenezer Scrooge’s origins in detail – meaning that this new film is likely just a particularly faithful adaptation of the source material under a different name.
Couple that with the fact that the movie is being helmed by a genuine horror auteur and I think it’s safe to say that the latest iteration of the first modern ghost story is in good hands.
That being said, one detail that immediately jumped out at me during the brief teaser (other than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to Johnny Depp’s iconic bedroom death scene from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street) is the fact that many of Ebenezer’s ghosts appear to have been directly lifted from the iconic John Leech illustrations that accompanied the first edition of Dickens’ novel.
Here are a couple of stills from the trailer compared to the original artwork:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
The Phantoms in ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Ebenezer’
Marley’s Ghost in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
Mainly working with old-school wood and steel engravings that would later be transferred to print, Leech was instrumental in crafting the iconic look of history’s most influential phantoms – especially since Dickens is said to have been deeply involved with the creation of these so-called “comic illustrations.”
And since the novel is commonly said to have popularized spiritualism in Victorian England, much of the ghostly iconography that we still see in genre media to this very day (including some of Ti West’s previous films) can be traced back to the author’s partnership with Leech.
Ebenezer won’t be the first A Christmas Carol adaptation to borrow heavily from these designs, but I can appreciate how Ti West is incorporating an important part of horror history into his latest film.
Ebenezer will be available in theaters starting November 13.
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