AintItCool has received a leaked poster image of “The Thing,” a prequel to the classic John Carpenter 1982 horror film also named “The Thing.” (I’m all for brand recognition, but REALLY? No subtitle or Roman numeral on there, Universal?) The poster looks decent enough, but the film’s been sitting on the shelf for a while now, and has settled on a release sometime in October. Since this is the first we’ve seen of it, and there aren’t any trailers coming anytime soon, I wouldn’t count on that release date sticking. Perhaps Universal was hoping Mary Elizabeth Winstead would become a star off last year’s “Scott Pilgrim vs The World,” giving them a good face to stick on the poster. Winstead has gained some serious geek cred with “Pilgrim,” but favor with the ComicCon crowd doesn’t guarantee buns in seats. “The Thing” isn’t making any appearances at this year’s San Diego ComicCon either, adding to the speculation that Universal has no idea how to market this one. Director Matthijs van Heijningen (I swear, that isn’t a typo) is set to make his feature debut with the piece, so first-time jitters may also be a factor. I’m not one to hate on a film before even seeing it, but all the evidence points to this prequel being south of cheese. If Universal feels the same way, maybe they’ll conveniently forget to release it at all.
“The Thing” is set to open in October 2011
