Rocky Horror remake in the works (1 Viewer)

[Lucia Duran]

So I heard through the grapevine that MTV plans to remake the Rocky Horror Picture Show. MTV Remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show - ComingSoon.net

This makes me so sad. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the Rocky Horror Picture Show and was even (just once) a part of a shadow cast. I can't even imagine how this one will go over with the FANatics of this cult classic.

I'm never stoked about hollywood remakes as it is, but MTV getting their hands on the original script and butchering such a fabulous film makes me sick.

 

[Edwin-S]

They haven't even cast it yet, so how can they be "butchering" it? I don't really see a point in remaking this film but maybe we should actually see a piece of exposed film before coming to the conclusion that MTV is butchering it.

 

[Lucia Duran]

No, it hasn't been made yet, but based on what MTV has produced in the past.... it will be butchered.

I'm sorry, I thought this was a discussion forum where people can discuss up and coming film projects and what not.

 

[Edwin-S]

I'm not trying to close down or deny your right to discuss an upcoming film project. After all, you're right. This is a discussion forum.

I just think it is premature to conclude that MTV is butchering the film before an inch of film has been shot. The details on the project are sketchy at best, so how can any conclusion be drawn as to the quality of the remake?

 

[cafink]

You're absolutely correct. The HTF is a fine place to share movie-related thoughts and opinions, such as the opinion that it's premature to call a film "butchered" before it has even been cast, let alone had a single frame of film exposed.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Another new modern remake we do not need.

Everyone join me and sing:

"Let's NOT do the Time Warp agaaiiiiiiinnnnnnnn"!!!

 

[MielR]

Why would anyone bother doing a remake of the RHPS? Are they going to find someone better than Tim Curry to play Frank?

Ridiculous.

 

[cafink]

Agreed. That would be like trying to top Jack Nicholson in a Batman remake.

 

[Lucia Duran]

Apparently, Marilyn Manson was one of the people they had in mind for the roll of Dr. Frank N Furter.

 

[Ruz-El]

I think it well be a disaster. The first one is one of those films that's by no means what would traditionally be called good, it just happens to be magic. You can't remake that. the original team couldn't do it with that sequel. My gues sis they'll use the stage show script. Kinda like remaking Hairspray, another dumb one. remake a musical by doing a Broadway musical version? WTF?

I also suspect you'll see stunt casting, like Travolta as the mum in Hairspray. Just smacks of bad to me.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Perhaps.

No one bothered with the movie when it was originally released and no one really bothers with it unless they want to get drunk, scream at the movie, throw rice/meat loaf and dance in the seats.

 

[Jason Roer]

Disagree entirely with that. This is one of those cult classics that has endured for years. Every generation since its release has been indoctrinated into it at some point, usually in high school, but sometimes earlier. Everyone has heard the Time Warp. There was a documentary a few years back that spoke of the "midnight movies" and included Rocky Horror, Eraserhead, El Topo and a host of others. The key idea was that you cannot make a film in hopes that it will become a cult hit. It doesn't work that way. Someone said earlier you cannot recreate that kind of magic. If you could, every film would endure like the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Me, I love the film and would throw it in at a moment's notice. And I don't need to be drunk or want to throw rice at the screen. In fact I discourage people from throwing things at the screen in my house. Most of the time.

I have no problem with them making an attempt at a remake, but I can't imagine they will be making a classic to stand the test of time. This sort of goes into the "phenomenon" discussion we were having over in the Box Office thread. A film becomes a phenomenon, or in this case, reaches cult status, because it comes along at the right time. Rocky Horror arrived at the right time and has lived on because of the magic of the film.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Ockeghem]

I watched the film when it was released originally (three times) before it achieved 'cult' status. I didn't understand it, but the crowds in the theater were much more subdued (almost entirely) when it was first shown back in the mid-1970s.

That being said, I probably would not purchase a remake for a variety of reasons, one of which is that generally speaking I do not like them very much (regardless of genre).

 

[Michael Elliott]

They aren't trying to make a classic that stands the test of time. They are trying to make money. If anyone follows the box office returns they'll notice that these remakes make a killing. They'll stop when people stop going to them.

Interesting about the original release. Everything I've ever read from the director and cast has them saying that it was a bomb when originally released.

 

[Jason Roer]

Michael,

Hardly a bomb. It didn't do well at first, but the film was never pulled from release. It took off when it was moved to the "midnight circuit" I was speaking of earlier.

From Wiki -

The film opened in the US at the UA Theatre in Westwood, California on September 26, 1975. It did well at that location but not elsewhere.[16] The cult following did not begin until the movie began its midnight run at the Waverly Theatre in New York on April 1, 1976.[17] The film is still shown with audience members acting out the entire movie in front of the screen. The Clinton Street Theater in Portland, Oregon has also shown the movie weekly since its debut there in April, 1978.
Overall, critics were negative with their reviews of the movie. The overly sexual nature of this British rock comedy was not well received by the mainstream media of 1975, although there were positive reviews. The music was praised, as was Tim Curry's performance. However, before the success of the midnight screenings, the film was withdrawn from its eight opening cities due to very small audiences, and its planned New York opening (on Halloween night) was cancelled.[18] Fox re-released it around college campuses on a double-bill with another rock music film parody, Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise, but again it drew small audiences.[18] With Pink Flamingos (1972) and Reefer Madness (1936) making money in midnight showings nationwide, RHPS was eventually screened at midnight, starting in New York City on April Fools' Day of 1976.[19] By that Halloween, people were attending in costume and talking back to the screen. By mid-1978, RHPS was playing in over fifty locations on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight, newsletters were published by local performance groups, and fans gathered for Rocky Horror conventions.[20] By the end of 1979, there were twice-weekly showings at over 230 theaters.[21]
The Rocky Horror Picture Show has taken in $139,876,417 (USA) (sub-total) in box office receipts since its release.[22] The length of its run in cinemas (weekly for over 30 years), combined with its considerable total box office gross, is unparalleled by any other film.[23] The original budget for the movie was $1,200,000 (estimated).[24] The audience participation made the film become a worldwide phenomenon. As the cult-audience grew, Rocky Horror fandom became the subject of news stories. Dori Hartley, a fan from the original New York shadow cast, went on to appear in "Paradise Garage", a Tim Curry music video.[25]
After the release, the original advertising campaign for screen and television was pulled by Twentieth Century Fox executives in the very early stage. The studio objected to the use of the red lipsticked lips uttering the words Twentieth Century Fox.[26] The American television network Fox Broadcasting aired the film's much-publicized US television premiere on October 25, 1993. The film's popularity breathed new life to the stage production, which had had a 45-performance run on Broadway early in 1975 at the Belasco Theatre.[27] Rocky Horror sequels and other media have found their way into production, including merchandise ranging from prefabricated costumes, games,[28] [29] and soundtrack releases.

 

[Ockeghem]

Jason,

Thanks for the info. When I initially saw it back in the 1970s, I saw it in Massachusetts, and one of the three times I saw it was a late-night showing. (I can't recall if it was shown at midnight at that time.) A couple of years later (this would have been ca. 1978), I do recall many segments where the audience spoke back to the film -- especially during the narrated scenes (e.g., "You think you're so damn smart ..."; and many scenes involving Brad's dialogue with Janet, etc.). I recall being surprised that many in the audience knew what the narrator was saying. Those in attendance had obviously seen the film many times already. It would have been interesting to have traced the evolution of the audience participation aspect of the film as it unfolded ca. 1975-1979.

 

[Jason Roer]

No prob. I too would have loved to study the culture as it simply fascinates me, but alas, I'm a wee lad at only 32 years of age and wasn't born until just after the official midnight release on April 1st, 1976. I was born on the 7th of that very same year. Still, I love the movie and watch it at least once a year.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

Why choose RHPS? There must be loads of bad movies that can be remade good, so why pick a good one that doesn't need redoing? That's like remaking Brideshead Revisited...wait, what was that? Nooooooo, I don't believe it.....

"And crawling, on the planet's face, some insects, called the human race. Lost in time, and lost in space... and meaning"

 

[Joe Karlosi]

First - not "all" remakes have made a killing at the box office. Don't forget things like ROLLERBALL and THE MOD SQUAD and THE HONEYMOONERS. There are tons more.

Most people aren't going to see these things specifically "just because they love remakes". Most paying people probably don't even know many of the films they're seeing are remakes.

So it's just up to Hollywood to stop making them, not the audiences to stop paying to see films... because when audiences wish to go out to the movies, they have to pick off the menu.. and the studios fashion such a "remake" menu, not the reverse. The people will see anything current.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Maybe one day you'll get it through your head that Hollywood is a business. Do you actually think they want to make great, personal films over money?