Here’s Why John Carpenter Likes the Remake of The Fog More Than the Remake of The Thing

Almost immediately after his feature film career began, John Carpenter began delivering genre fans masterpieces, with films like Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, and The Fog all becoming classics. The filmmaker was a defining figure of genre cinema in the ’80s, with the ’90s and ’00s seeing him explore other opportunities, allowing other studios to look at his works to craft updates of his most iconic features. Carpenter has largely stayed away from getting involved with the continuations of these early films, with one exception being last year’s Halloween sequel. Of all the various ways his films have been reimagined, Carpenter admitted his favorite remakes are the ones that give him a check.

“Well, there are two kinds of remakes of my movies,” Carpenter admitted to Variety. “One kind is, like in The Thing, Universal owned the rights to The Thing so they didn’t ask me anything, but a movie like The Fog, I wrote the screenplay, so they actually have to pay me. That’s my favorite kind of remake, is to extend my hand and receive a check for doing nothing. That is a profession I can handle. But the writer is the essential thing, because you created it, I created the idea.”

Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing was actually an adaptation of the novella Who Goes There?, with a previous adaptation, The Thing from Another World, debuting in 1951. That adaptation can briefly be seen on TV in Carpenter’s original Halloween.

With the Halloween franchise, Carpenter returned for the first time since 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch for last year’s sequel as a producer and the composer. One project we likely won’t see him get involved with is the new Big Trouble in Little China, which he has previously called out as merely an exploitation of the name.

“They want a movie with Dwayne Johnson. That’s what they want. So they just picked that title,” Carpenter shared with CinemaBlend. “They don’t give a sh-t about me and my movie. That movie wasn’t a success.”

The original Big Trouble in Little China starred Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, marking one of many collaborations between the director and the actor. Russell starred with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious, with his comments about the upcoming film being slightly more positive.

“He’s just a really good guy,” Russell previously shared about Johnson. “I like working with him and if he’s going to do it, he and his crew will hopefully be able to come up with something that I guess makes the title work.”

Stay tuned for details about future John Carpenter projects.

Which of Carpenter’s remakes are your favorite? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!