Lead Roles Cast in 'The Thing' Prequel

Heat Vision reports that Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton will star in “The Thing,” Universal’s prequel on the shape-shifting alien who terrorizes a group of people in a remote facility.

The best-known version of the tale is the 1982 John Carpenter-Kurt Russell cult movie, which was a contemporary remake of 1951's "The Thing From Another World," directed by Howard Hawks. All take inspiration from a 1938 short story, "Who Goes There?" published in pulp mag Astounding.

This new film will tell the story of the scientists that initially found the being with Mary Elizabeth Winstead starring as a Ph.D. candidate who joins a Norwegian research team in Antarctica after it discovers an alien ship in the ice. When the unknown alien is freed and begins a series of attacks, she is forced to team with a blue-collar mercenary helicopter pilot (Joel Edgerton) to stop the rampage.

The role marks Winstead's first starring studio vehicle. She appeared in a bit part in Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof" and was Bruce Willis' daughter in "Live Free or Die Hard." She caught Universal's eye with her work opposite Michael Cera in the studio's upcoming "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," where she plays love interest Ramona V. Flowers. Universal is releasing that movie Aug. 13.

Edgerton's credits include "Smokin' Aces," "King Arthur," "Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones" and "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith" (he played the bit role of young Owen Lars).

The film is already set for a March 15 start date in Toronto with Matthijs van Heijningen directing a script by "Battlestar Galactica" co-creator Ronald D. Moore and Eric Heisserer, who co-wrote the upcoming "A Nightmare on Elm Street" remake.

While van Heijningen is a virtual unknown, the screenwriting team sounds good enough to make me curious as to how this will turn out. "The Thing" is a beloved classic by many and this prequek has a lot to live up to.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Rope of Silicon, The Geek Files, Latino Review, Screen Rant, THR, Live for Films