author A. E. van Vogt, who had been inspired to write from reading "Who Goes There?" and who had been a prolific contributor to Astounding, had wanted to write the script. The screenplay changes the fundamental nature of the alien. Lederer's "Thing" is a humanoid life form whose cellular structure is closer to vegetation, although it must feed on blood to survive; reporter Scott even refers to it in the film as a "super carrot". The internal, plant-like structure of the creature makes it impervious to bullets (but not to other destructive forces). Campbell's "Thing" is a life form capable of assuming the physical and mental characteristics of any living thing it encounters; this characteristic was later realized in John Carpenter's adaptation of the novella, the 1982 film The Thing. Director There is debate as to whether the film was directed by Howard Hawks, with Christian Nyby receiving the credit so that Nyby could obtain his Director's Guild membership or whether Nyby directed it with considerable input from producer Hawks for Hawks' Winchester Pictures, which released the film through RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Hawks gave Nyby only $5,460 of RKO's $50,000 director's fee and kept the rest, but Hawks always denied that he directed the film. Cast members disagree on Hawks' and Nyby's contributions: Tobey said that "Hawks directed it, all except one scene" while, on the other hand, Fenneman said that "Hawks would once in a while direct, if he had an idea, but it was Chris' show". Cornthwaite said that "Chris always deferred to Hawks ... Maybe because he did defer to him, people misinterpreted it". One of the film's stars, William Self, later became President of 20th Century Fox Television. In describing the production, Self said, "Chris was the director in our eyes, but Howard was the boss in our eyes". Although Self has said that "Hawks was directing the picture from the sidelines", he also has said that "Chris would stage each scene, how to play it. But then he would go over to Howard and ask him for advice, which the actors did not hear ... Even though I was there every day, I don't think any of us can answer the question. Only Chris and Howard can answer the question". At a reunion of The Thing cast and crew members in 1982, Nyby said: Reception Critical and box office reception The Thing from Another