A Very Different Thing Prequel Was Originally On from Frank Darabont, Syfy, and George Clooney – Horror History
Steve Barton
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With Brainwaves: Horror and Paranormal Talk Radio kicking a copious amount of ass, things have really been rocking and rolling, and our headlines have recently been a reflection of that. Last night we had Vincent J. Guastini on the show, who regaled us with plenty of tales, including one on a Thing prequel that to our knowledge never made the headlines before.
“Out of anyone in the FX industry, I was one of the first to be involved with The Thing prequel,” Guastini told us during the show. “This was way back when it was at the [then] Sci-Fi Channel. I’m talking the first incarnation before even Frank Darabont was involved. We were originally there with Tom Holland doing a presentation for a remake of Day of the Triffids. I did a maquette and an old friend of mine, Ron, did a bunch of concept designs for it. Sci-Fi LOVED what we did for Triffids, and that’s when they told us that they were possibly going to be doing either a prequel or a remake to The Thing. I had heard about this project already and was already trying to get in touch with another person, a writer by the name of Tim Talbot. He had an in at a company called Mansville Incorporated, which was run by George Clooney, and Clooney was going to do [the new Thing project].”
“[The Triffids project] went dead, but then I met with Frank Darabont regarding The Thing. He said, ‘Vin, this stuff is all beautiful but I’m going to hire KNB [Effects].’
Darabont eventually dropped out of the production, but Guastini wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. “I went to talk to the original producer, who told me that the project was going to be going to a company called Strike [Entertainment], who eventually ended up doing the prequel.”
Studio ADI eventually went on to handle the effects work, which were mostly ruined via CG augmentation.
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