Mary Elizabeth Winstead to star in The Thing prequel

I haven’t been too hot on the upcoming prequel for THE THING that’s going to begin filming this spring in Toronto but this casting news has certainly piqued my interest. Mary Elizabeth Winstead has signed on to star in the film, her first lead role in a studio movie and one well-deserved. Winstead has been one of the young actresses who has been able to mix big-budget action flicks (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD) with indie flicks (FACTORY GIRL) and Quentin Tarantino flicks (DEATH PROOF). The actress has been cast alongside Joel Edgerton (Uncle Owen from the new STAR WARS trilogy) in the film, which follows the Norwegian research team that is hinted at in John Carpenter’s film.

Winstead will play a PhD candidate who travels to Antarctica to work with the Norwegian crew. When the shit hits the fan, she teams up with a mercenary (Edgerton) to “stop the rampage.” Matthijs Van Heijningen is directing the film for Universal from a script by Ronald D. Moore. Winstead can be seen next in another Universal film, SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, this August.

So are you with me? Does the casting of Winstead help ease the discomfort of a THING prequel? Or does this actually make you less excited?