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conceived several key scenes in the film, including the Norris-Thing biting
Dr. Copper, and the use of blood tests to identify the Thing, which Carpenter
cited as the reason he wanted to work on the film. [23] Lancaster said he
found some difficulty in translating Who Goes There? to film, as it features
very little action. He also made some significant changes to the story, such
as reducing the number of characters from 37 to 12. Lancaster said that 37 was
excessive and would be difficult for audiences to follow, leaving little
screen time for characterization. He also opted to alter the story's
structure, choosing to open his in the middle of the action , instead of using
a flashback as in the novella. [30] Several characters were modernized for
contemporary audiences; MacReady, originally a meteorologist, became a tough
loner described in the script as "35. Helicopter pilot. Likes chess. Hates the
cold. The pay is good." Lancaster aimed to create an ensemble piece where one
person emerged as the hero, instead of having a Doc Savage -type hero from the
start. [31] Lancaster wrote thirty to forty pages but struggled with the
film's second act, and it took him several months to complete the script. [23]
[30] After it was finished, Lancaster and Carpenter spent a weekend in
northern California refining the script, each having different takes on how a
character should sound, and comparing their ideas for scenes. Lancaster's
script opted to keep the creature largely concealed throughout the film, and
it was Bottin who convinced Carpenter to make it more visible to have a
greater impact on the audience. [23] [32] Lancaster's original ending had both
MacReady and Childs turn into the Thing. In the spring, the characters are
rescued by helicopter, greeting their saviors with "Hey, which way to a hot
meal?". Carpenter thought this ending was too shallow. In total, Lancaster
completed four drafts of the screenplay. The novella concludes with the humans
clearly victorious, but concerned that birds they see flying toward the
mainland may have been infected by the Thing. Carpenter opted to end the film
with the survivors slowly freezing to death to save humanity from infection,
believing this to be the ultimate heroic act. [23] [33] Lancaster wrote this
ending, which eschews a The Twilight Zone -style twist or the destruction of
the monster, as he wanted to instead have an ambiguous moment between the
pair, of trust and mistrust, fear and relief. [34] Casting [ edit ] Actor
Wilford Brimley in 2012. He was cast for his everyman persona which would
allow audiences not to notice his absence from the story until the right time.
[35] Kurt Russell was involved in the production before being cast, helping
Carpenter develop his ideas. [36] Russell was the last actor to be cast, in
June 1981, by which point second unit filming was starting in Juneau, Alaska .
[36] [37] Carpenter had worked with Russell twice before but wanted to keep
his options open. Discussions with the studio involved using actors
Christopher Walken , Jeff Bridges , or Nick Nolte , who were either
unavailable or declined, and Sam Shepard , who showed interest but was never
pursued. Tom Atkins and Jack Thompson were strong early and late contenders
for the role of MacReady, but the decision was made to go with Russell. [37]
In part, Carpenter cited the practicality of choosing someone he had found
reliable before, and who would not balk at the difficult filming conditions.
[38] It took Russell about a year to grow his hair and beard out for the role.
[14] At various points, the producers met with Brian Dennehy , Kris
Kristofferson , John Heard , Ed Harris , Tom Berenger , Jack Thompson, Scott
Glenn , Fred Ward , Peter Coyote , Tom Atkins, and Tim McIntire . Some passed
on the idea of starring in a monster film, while Dennehy became the choice to
play Copper. [37] Each actor was to be paid $50,000, but after the more-
established Russell was cast, his salary increased to $400,000. [26] Geoffrey
Holder , Carl Weathers , and Bernie Casey were considered for the role of
Childs, and Carpenter also looked at Isaac Hayes , having worked with him on
Escape from New York . Ernie Hudson was the front-runner and was almost cast
until they met with Keith David . [39] The Thing was David's first significant
film role, and coming from a theater background, he had to learn on set how to
hold himself back and not show every emotion his character was feeling, with
guidance from Richard Masur and Donald Moffat in particular. Masur and David
discussed their characters in rehearsals and decided that they would not like
each other. [40] For Blair, the team chose the then-unknown Wilford Brimley ,
as they wanted an everyman whose absence would not be questioned by the
audience until the appropriate time. The intent with the character was to have
him become infected early in the film but offscreen , so that his status would
be unknown to the audience, concealing his intentions. Carpenter wanted to
cast Donald Pleasence , but it was decided that he was too recognizable to
accommodate the role. [35] T. K. Carter was cast as Nauls, but comedian
Franklyn Ajaye also came in to read for the role. Instead, he delivered a
lengthy speech about the character being a stereotype, after which the meeting
ended. [41] Bottin lobbied hard to play Palmer, but it was deemed impossible
for him to do so alongside his existing duties. As the character has some
comedic moments, Universal brought in comedians Jay Leno , Garry Shandling ,
and Charles Fleischer , among others, but opted to go with actor David Clennon
, who was better suited to play the dramatic elements. [42] Clennon had read
for the Bennings character, but he preferred the option of playing Palmer's
"blue-collar stoner" to a "white collar science man". [40] Powers Boothe ,
[11] Lee Van Cleef , Jerry Orbach , and Kevin Conway were considered for the
role of Garry, and Richard Mulligan was also considered when the production
experimented with the idea of making the character closer to MacReady in age.
[43] Masur also read for Garry, but he asked to play Clark instead, as he
liked the character's dialogue and was also a fan of dogs. Masur worked daily
with the wolfdog Jed and his handler, Clint Rowe, during rehearsals, as Rowe
was familiarizing Jed with the sounds and smells of people. This helped
Masur's and Jed's performance onscreen, as the dog would stand next to him
without looking for his handler. Masur described his character as one
uninterested in people, but who loves working with dogs. He went to a
survivalist store and bought a flip knife for his character, and used it in a
confrontation with David's character. [40] Masur turned down a role in E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial to play Clark. [44] William Daniels and Dennehy were
both interested in playing Dr. Copper, and it was a last-second decision by
Carpenter to go with Richard Dysart . [43] In early drafts, Windows was called
Sanchez, and later Sanders. The name Windows came when the actor for the role,
Thomas Waites, was in a costume fitting and tried on a large pair of dark
glasses, which the character wears in the film. [45] Russell described the
all-male story as interesting since the men had no one to posture for without
women. [36] Anita Dann served as casting director. [40] Filming [ edit ] The
Thing was storyboarded extensively by Mike Ploog and Mentor Huebner before
filming began. Their work was so detailed that many of the film's shots
replicate the image layout completely. [46] Cundey pushed for the use of

conceived several key scenes in the film, including the Norris-Thing biting

Dr. Copper, and the use of blood tests to identify the Thing, which Carpenter

cited as the reason he wanted to work on the film. [23] Lancaster said he

found some difficulty in translating Who Goes There? to film, as it features

very little action. He also made some significant changes to the story, such

as reducing the number of characters from 37 to 12. Lancaster said that 37 was

excessive and would be difficult for audiences to follow, leaving little

screen time for characterization. He also opted to alter the story's

structure, choosing to open his in the middle of the action , instead of using

a flashback as in the novella. [30] Several characters were modernized for

contemporary audiences; MacReady, originally a meteorologist, became a tough

loner described in the script as "35. Helicopter pilot. Likes chess. Hates the

cold. The pay is good." Lancaster aimed to create an ensemble piece where one

person emerged as the hero, instead of having a Doc Savage -type hero from the

start. [31] Lancaster wrote thirty to forty pages but struggled with the

film's second act, and it took him several months to complete the script. [23]

[30] After it was finished, Lancaster and Carpenter spent a weekend in

northern California refining the script, each having different takes on how a

character should sound, and comparing their ideas for scenes. Lancaster's

script opted to keep the creature largely concealed throughout the film, and

it was Bottin who convinced Carpenter to make it more visible to have a

greater impact on the audience. [23] [32] Lancaster's original ending had both

MacReady and Childs turn into the Thing. In the spring, the characters are

rescued by helicopter, greeting their saviors with "Hey, which way to a hot

meal?". Carpenter thought this ending was too shallow. In total, Lancaster

completed four drafts of the screenplay. The novella concludes with the humans

clearly victorious, but concerned that birds they see flying toward the

mainland may have been infected by the Thing. Carpenter opted to end the film

with the survivors slowly freezing to death to save humanity from infection,

believing this to be the ultimate heroic act. [23] [33] Lancaster wrote this

ending, which eschews a The Twilight Zone -style twist or the destruction of

the monster, as he wanted to instead have an ambiguous moment between the

pair, of trust and mistrust, fear and relief. [34] Casting [ edit ] Actor

Wilford Brimley in 2012. He was cast for his everyman persona which would

allow audiences not to notice his absence from the story until the right time.

[35] Kurt Russell was involved in the production before being cast, helping

Carpenter develop his ideas. [36] Russell was the last actor to be cast, in

June 1981, by which point second unit filming was starting in Juneau, Alaska .

[36] [37] Carpenter had worked with Russell twice before but wanted to keep

his options open. Discussions with the studio involved using actors

Christopher Walken , Jeff Bridges , or Nick Nolte , who were either

unavailable or declined, and Sam Shepard , who showed interest but was never

pursued. Tom Atkins and Jack Thompson were strong early and late contenders

for the role of MacReady, but the decision was made to go with Russell. [37]

In part, Carpenter cited the practicality of choosing someone he had found

reliable before, and who would not balk at the difficult filming conditions.

[38] It took Russell about a year to grow his hair and beard out for the role.

[14] At various points, the producers met with Brian Dennehy , Kris

Kristofferson , John Heard , Ed Harris , Tom Berenger , Jack Thompson, Scott

Glenn , Fred Ward , Peter Coyote , Tom Atkins, and Tim McIntire . Some passed

on the idea of starring in a monster film, while Dennehy became the choice to

play Copper. [37] Each actor was to be paid $50,000, but after the more-

established Russell was cast, his salary increased to $400,000. [26] Geoffrey

Holder , Carl Weathers , and Bernie Casey were considered for the role of

Childs, and Carpenter also looked at Isaac Hayes , having worked with him on

Escape from New York . Ernie Hudson was the front-runner and was almost cast

until they met with Keith David . [39] The Thing was David's first significant

film role, and coming from a theater background, he had to learn on set how to

hold himself back and not show every emotion his character was feeling, with

guidance from Richard Masur and Donald Moffat in particular. Masur and David

discussed their characters in rehearsals and decided that they would not like

each other. [40] For Blair, the team chose the then-unknown Wilford Brimley ,

as they wanted an everyman whose absence would not be questioned by the

audience until the appropriate time. The intent with the character was to have

him become infected early in the film but offscreen , so that his status would

be unknown to the audience, concealing his intentions. Carpenter wanted to

cast Donald Pleasence , but it was decided that he was too recognizable to

accommodate the role. [35] T. K. Carter was cast as Nauls, but comedian

Franklyn Ajaye also came in to read for the role. Instead, he delivered a

lengthy speech about the character being a stereotype, after which the meeting

ended. [41] Bottin lobbied hard to play Palmer, but it was deemed impossible

for him to do so alongside his existing duties. As the character has some

comedic moments, Universal brought in comedians Jay Leno , Garry Shandling ,

and Charles Fleischer , among others, but opted to go with actor David Clennon

, who was better suited to play the dramatic elements. [42] Clennon had read

for the Bennings character, but he preferred the option of playing Palmer's

"blue-collar stoner" to a "white collar science man". [40] Powers Boothe ,

[11] Lee Van Cleef , Jerry Orbach , and Kevin Conway were considered for the

role of Garry, and Richard Mulligan was also considered when the production

experimented with the idea of making the character closer to MacReady in age.

[43] Masur also read for Garry, but he asked to play Clark instead, as he

liked the character's dialogue and was also a fan of dogs. Masur worked daily

with the wolfdog Jed and his handler, Clint Rowe, during rehearsals, as Rowe

was familiarizing Jed with the sounds and smells of people. This helped

Masur's and Jed's performance onscreen, as the dog would stand next to him

without looking for his handler. Masur described his character as one

uninterested in people, but who loves working with dogs. He went to a

survivalist store and bought a flip knife for his character, and used it in a

confrontation with David's character. [40] Masur turned down a role in E.T.

the Extra-Terrestrial to play Clark. [44] William Daniels and Dennehy were

both interested in playing Dr. Copper, and it was a last-second decision by

Carpenter to go with Richard Dysart . [43] In early drafts, Windows was called

Sanchez, and later Sanders. The name Windows came when the actor for the role,

Thomas Waites, was in a costume fitting and tried on a large pair of dark

glasses, which the character wears in the film. [45] Russell described the

all-male story as interesting since the men had no one to posture for without

women. [36] Anita Dann served as casting director. [40] Filming [ edit ] The

Thing was storyboarded extensively by Mike Ploog and Mentor Huebner before

filming began. Their work was so detailed that many of the film's shots

replicate the image layout completely. [46] Cundey pushed for the use of