
The main character, a paleontologist played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, fights for survival, along with her scientific crew, when the 'shape-shifter' alien is discovered to have the ability to replicate other creatures (including humans).
Carpenter's "The Thing" adapted the 1938 "Astounding Magazine" 'novella' "Who Goes There", by author John W. Campbell Jr.
The short story was also the basis of the 1951 film "The Thing From Another World" from producer Howard Hawks.
Premise of Campbell's original story focused on a group of scientific researchers, isolated in Antarctica, that discover an alien spaceship buried in the ice.



The men unwittingly recover the alien pilot that can assume the shape, memories and personality of any living creature.