Last month we reported on the character breakdowns for Matthijs Van Heijningen’s prequel (yes we know, doesn't seem exactly right does it?) to John Carpenter’s parasitic alien thriller THE THING, and today Heat Vision has given names to a couple of the leads...

Follow up:

You can see those character breakdowns in full here, but the two roles cast are:

[KATE LLOYD] In her late 20s to early 30s, pretty, bright-eyed, intelligent, she’s a graduate of Columbia and a Ph.D. candidate in paleontology (the study of prehistoric life). On the recommendation of her friend Adam Goodman, Kate is tapped for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by Dr. Sander Halvorson to join his research team in Antarctica, where an extraordinary discovery has been made. Upon arrival, Kate soon finds herself at odds with Halvorson about how best to proceed with the discovery…

and

[SAM CARTER] In his early 30s, rugged, handsome, blue-collar, he’s a helicopter pilot with a private charter service that transports personnel and supplies from McMurdo Station to remote research sites across Antarctica. Carter is a mercenary. He flies when he wants, where he wants, and he flies for one reason: money.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is set to play Kate Lloyd and Joel Edgerton will be Sam Carter. Tarantino fans will have seen Winstead in the overlooked Race and Revenge movie Death Proof and this will be here first leading role.

Edgerton is an Australian whose appearance in the Star Wars Prequels as Owen Lars was the only role I was familiar with, but he also appeared in King Arthur and the forthcoming film Warrior with Tom Hardy.

We're keeping an open mind with this one, though we have creeping doubts that this will be another Aliens Vs. Predator type by-the-numbers affair. Eyes, ears and chest cavities remain open.