It’s an exciting time for fans of John Carpenter’s The Thing, its related films The Thing from Another World and the 2011 prequel titled The Thing, and the source they’re adapted from titled Who Goes There? by author John Campbell. As it turns out, there’s a lost extended version of Who Goes There? known as Frozen Hell, and that particular version of the story is now going to be adapted by Universal and Blumhouse.
The news was first revealed in a since deleted Facebook post by producer Alan Donnes, who wrote the following:
“It’s OFFICIAL! I received my signed contract and first check! I am Executive Producing a remake of THE THING but with additional chapters of John Campbell’s groundbreaking novel, Frozen Hell, that had been lost for decades. Now, for the first time ever, Campbell’s full vision will be realized on the big screen. The new film will include the very best of RKO’s THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, John Carpenter’s classic THE THING and both books, Frozen Hell and Who Goes There?”
The involvement of Universal and Blumhouse was confirmed in a Kickstarter update written by John Betancourt, who runs a Kickstarter page created to help with the Frozen Hell book release. Here’s what he explained:
“He doesn’t say it, but movie will be from Universal and Blumhouse. Everyone is super excited about it, and it’s being fast-tracked. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what’s going on with Who Goes There?, Frozen Hell, and The Thing in Hollywood. I can’t talk about the rest yet, but it’s very exciting — and if all goes as planned, the Thing will be alive and well for quite a while.”
Apparently Frozen Hell is a longer version of the published short story Who Goes There?, which is reported to add more context and backstory. And so with Universal and Blumhouse creating a new adaptation with this extra material in mind, it should be a fascinating and hopefully more respectful interpretation of Campbell’s original intended story.