The Thing (1982) Movie Script (Copy) Complete screenplay including 121 pages Second Draft March 4th, 1981 Directed by John Carpenter Screenplay by Bill Lancaster Based on Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter from a screenplay by Bill Lancaster. Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There?, it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous "Thing", a parasitic extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any of them could be the Thing. Will be packaged and shipped with great care.