John Carpenter Teases Potential Sequel to ‘The Thing’

The famed father of horror John Carpenter held a panel at the 2023 Texas Frightmare Weekend in Irving, Texas, late last month. Among interacting with fans, signing autographs and taking pictures, he also managed to field an array of their questions on the panel.

The answer that raised the most eyebrows came when, in response to the infamous question in regards to whether or not Childs (played by Keith David) was a Thing at the end of about the original film, Carpenter clammed up. His reason undoubtedly gave many fans goosebumps: “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’.”

Even if it seems to only be a possibility as of right now, this comes as huge news Not only for fans of the original, but just for horror fans in general. There are few horror directors as esteemed as John Carpenter, and few horror films as influential as ‘The Thing’.

Upon it’s debut in 1982, though, critics were surprisingly unimpressed with the film, as were general audiences. It was a commercial and critical failure. But notoriously, it didn’t take long for people in both camps to reclaim what is now widely known as one of the great pillars of the horror genre, constantly garnering praise for it’s inventive concepts, intense story, and downright groundbreaking practical effects.

The news of a sequel is especially exciting in that it seems that Carpenter would have at least some level of involvement in the production of a potential ‘Thing’ sequel, as compared to the unfortunately infamous 2011 prequel to the first film, in which he was not involved at all. It is well known that the widespread reaction to that prequel is far from glowing, so Carpenter’s involvement in another try at expanding the universe he created with the first one is deeply compelling for many people.

Even if the film isn’t technically in development yet, Carpenter’s open interest alone (and the ensuing excitement from fans) could be enough to ignite that flame behind the scenes. If the sequel does come to fruition, now may be just the right time, too. Carpenter noted that he just recently finished his upcoming horror television series ‘Suburban Screams’, which despite being shot in Prague, Italy, was directed remotely from Carpenter’s home in California. The series will be his first directed project in twelve years, following ‘The Ward’ in 2010.

But aside from another ‘Lost Themes’ album, it appears that John Carpenter has an open book. Nobody tells John Carpenter when he’s busy, no doubt, but it still feels like the rare perfect opportunity for something like a sequel to ‘The Thing’ to slide in. Though only time will tell regarding a potential ‘Thing 2’, you can tell us how you feel about the idea in the comments, or hop on over to Twitter and do the same.