The Thing 2: John Carpenter “Sworn to Secrecy” About Sequel

John Carpenter is one of the most celebrated directors in history, and many of his films have been remade, rebooted, or both. However, it’s been a very long time since Carpenter himself made a sequel to one of his own films. In fact, the only follow-up he ever helmed was Escape From LA, the 1996 sequel to 1981’s Escape From New York. The director also hasn’t helmed a feature since 2010’s The Ward. However, there has been some talk of a sequel to The Thing, Carpenter’s 1982 film that is considered one of the best horror/sci-fi movies of all time. The subject came up during a recent interview with Creepy Catalog, and Carpenter gave an intriguing answer. 

“I have been sworn to secrecy, okay, because there may be, I don’t know if there will be, there may be a Thing 2,” Carpenter said. 

While this doesn’t mean the sequel is happening or that Carpenter is planning on directing, it certainly has us wondering what’s been discussed. Last year, Carpenter talked with Fandom about sequel ideas for his movies. 

“Maybe The Thing. Maybe Prince of Darkness. I can see a little bit more of that. But we’ll see. You never know in this business. You really don’t,” Carpenter shared when asked about past films he’d be interested in reviving. As far as what a The Thing sequel could look like, Carpenter continued, “I just think there’s another bit of a story to tell there, which I’m not going to tell you about. But there have been some discussions about The Thing and what we could do because, as far as we know, both those two main characters — Childs [Keith David] and MacReady [Kurt Russell] — are still alive. They were alive at the end of The Thing, so maybe they’re still alive.”

Is The Thing Reboot Happening?

In addition to The Thing sequel, there’s also been talks about a reboot from Blumhouse. Last year, Carpenter was doing an interview with SYFY WIRE for the 40th anniversary of The Thing, and was asked about what’s going on with the new version of the movie.

“What the hell do I know? That’s the theme of my career. Write [this] down… John Carpenter: ‘What the hell do I know?’ No one tells me anything,” the filmmaker quipped. ComicBook.com also spoke to Carpenter in 2022, and explained, “There are updates that I am not allowed to speak of. We’ll see, we shall see. Never say never in the movie business, never say never.”

Would prefer to see a sequel to The Thing or a reboot? What about a requel? Tell us in the comments!