John Carpenter’s The Thing Returning to Theaters for 40th Anniversary

A number of iconic movies were released in 1982, with one of the more beloved releases among horror fans being John Carpenter’s The Thing, which is returning to the big screen for select screenings in honor of its 40th anniversary. Interestingly, the original release of the movie came only a few weeks after another beloved adventure about an otherworldly visitor debuted, as Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial premiered to much acclaim earlier that month. Due in large part to its bleakness, Carpenter’s The Thing was a relative failure on first release, only for its acclaim to grow over the decades. The Thing will be screening in select theaters on June 19th and June 22nd.

To celebrate tickets going on sale, Carpenter himself shared the below video to build excitement for the events.

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Fathom Events describes the film, “Director John Carpenter (Halloween) teams Kurt Russell’s outstanding performance with incredible visual effects to create a chilling version of the classic The Thing. Set in the winter of 1982 at a research station in Antarctica, a twelve-man research team finds an alien being that has fallen from the sky and has remained buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Soon it is unfrozen and unleashed, creating havoc and terror as it changes forms and becomes one of them. This special event will also feature the Terror Takes Shape documentary!”

Carpenter’s The Thing is a notable experience for a number of reasons, not only for its own merits, but also for the fact that it marks for a compelling adaptation of the novella Who Goes There? which had previously been adapted into the film The Thing from Another World. In this regard, it’s considered by many to be a “remake,” and one of the most successful in the world of horror at that. 

With how much time has passed since that first film hit theaters, and with it already inspiring the reimagined prequel The Thing in 2011, Blumhouse Productions is developing another take on the material. Rather than serving as a standard remake, it’s going back to the source material to act as a new adaptation of that original story. 

Earlier this year, ComicBook.com asked Carpenter if he might be involved in this new take on the material, to which he revealed, “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.”

Stay tuned for details on the new The Thing and see the 40th-anniversary screenings in theaters next month.

Will you be checking out these screenings? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!