First Look At Prequel To John Carpenter's 'The Thing'

The prequel to John Carpenter's "The Thing" has surprisingly managed to gain a small amount of geek approval as the message coming from the filmmakers is that it will honor the source material by very carefully using it as a launching pad to tell the story about the Norwegian team and the origins of the titular creature. Though it begs the question as to why they're using the title of the first film.

Anyway, we now have our first look at images both in front and behind the camera for the upcoming thriller. Directed by newcomer Matthis van Heijningen Jr. and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Eric Christian Olsen these first snaps look pretty good. Obviously, some coin was spent on the production and it looks like a slick, icy piece of work.

Universal feels good about the prospects of the film, scheduling it for an April 29, 2011 release. More pictures after the jump.