THE THING Director John Carpenter Teases Sequel: “I’m Sworn To Secrecy”

Despite the last two movies generally being viewed as disappointments, the Halloween franchise saw a massive resurgence in popularity following the release of David Gordon Green’s recent sequels, and this had led to John Carpenter fans hoping that we may see follow-ups to some of the legendary filmmaker’s other classics.

Carpenter has previously expressed interest in making a sequel to his ’80s sci-fi/horror masterpiece, The Thing, and it sounds like something may finally be moving forward.

During a Q&A at the recent Texas Frightmare Weekend, a fan asked Carpenter if Keith David’s Childs, who shares the final scene with Kurt Russell’s MacReady, has been taken over by the alien entity at the end of the movie.

“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,” he responded.

There were rumblings of a new movie back in 2020 when Universal and Blumhouse were said to be developing a re-adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr.’s Who Goes There, which 1951’s The Thing from Another World and Carpenter’s 80s remake were both based on. Updates have been few and far between since, though, and even if the project does get up and running, we don’t know if it’ll actually serve as a direct sequel to Carpenter’s film.

Carpenter hasn’t directed a feature himself since 2010’s The Ward, but is there a chance he could come out of semi-retirement to helm The Thing 2? Probably wishful thinking, but him being involved in any capacity (and maybe providing the score) would be enough to get fans on board.