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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. [23] 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. [30] 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. [31] Lancaster wrote thirty to forty pages but struggled with the |
film's second act, and it took him several months to complete the script. [23] |
[30] 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. [23] [32] Lancaster's original ending had both |
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. [23] [33] 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. [34] Casting [ edit ] Actor |
Wilford Brimley 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. |
[35] Kurt Russell was involved in the production before being cast, helping |
Carpenter develop his ideas. [36] Russell was the last actor to be cast, in |
June 1981, by which point second unit filming was starting in Juneau, Alaska . |
[36] [37] Carpenter had worked with Russell twice before but wanted to keep |
his options open. Discussions with the studio involved using actors |
Christopher Walken , Jeff Bridges , or 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 the decision was made to go with Russell. [37] |
In part, Carpenter cited the practicality of choosing someone he had found |
reliable before, and who would not balk at the difficult filming conditions. |
[38] It took Russell about a year to grow his hair and beard out for the role. |
[14] At various points, the producers 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. [37] Each actor was to be paid $50,000, but after the more- |
established Russell was cast, his salary increased to $400,000. [26] Geoffrey |
Holder , Carl Weathers , and Bernie Casey were considered for the role of |
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 . [39] 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 and David |
discussed their characters in rehearsals and decided that they would not like |
each other. [40] For Blair, the team chose the then-unknown Wilford Brimley , |
as they wanted an everyman whose absence would not be questioned by the |
audience until the appropriate time. The intent with the character was to have |
him become infected early in the film but offscreen , so that his status would |
be unknown to the audience, concealing his intentions. Carpenter wanted to |
cast Donald Pleasence , but it was decided that he was too recognizable to |
accommodate the role. [35] T. K. Carter was cast as Nauls, but 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. [41] Bottin lobbied hard to play 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. [42] Clennon had read |
for the Bennings character, but he preferred the option of playing Palmer's |
"blue-collar stoner" to a "white collar science man". [40] Powers Boothe , |
[11] Lee Van Cleef , Jerry Orbach , and Kevin Conway were considered for the |
role of Garry, and Richard Mulligan was also considered when the production |
experimented with the idea of making the character closer to MacReady in age. |
[43] Masur also read for Garry, but he asked to play 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 onscreen, 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. [40] Masur turned down a role in E.T. |
the Extra-Terrestrial to play Clark. [44] 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 . [43] 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. [45] Russell described the |
all-male story as interesting since the men had no one to posture for without |
women. [36] Anita Dann served as casting director. [40] Filming [ edit ] 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 completely. [46] Cundey pushed for the use of |
Subsets and Splits
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