The Thing is a 2011 science fiction horror film serving as a direct prequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film, which was an adaptation of the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell. Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. and written by Eric Heisserer, it stars an ensemble cast led by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Eric Christian Olsen.