Rocky Horror film to be remade

[E.J.]

Doing the Time Warp: Rocky Horror film to be remade

Sky Movies to co-finance remake of cult 1975 musical in bid to extend prodigious fan base

Owen Gibson, media correspondent, The Guardian

More than 30 years after they introduced the public to a "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania", the makers of The Rocky Horror Picture Show have reunited to do the time warp one more time.

Sky Movies yesterday confirmed it would co-finance a remake of the cult 1975 musical starring Tim Curry that still draws a full house of fans dressed as characters from the film to late night screenings. The original kitsch parody of science fiction and horror, which cost $1.2m (?630,000) to make and has taken more than $140m at the box office, is the longest running cinematic theatrical release of all time. The new version, financed by Sky and MTV in the US, will be overseen by the original film's executive producer, Lou Adler.

Adler said: "Our hope has always been that each new endeavour will expose new audiences to Rocky Horror and expand its fan base, so here we go again, with a new cast, believing that the remake will add to the phenomenon."

Richard O'Brien, who wrote the original stage show on which the film was based and starred in the movie, will co-produce the remake.

The project is the first time that Sky Movies has directly financed a feature film. In return, it will premiere the film on its own channels. Ian Lewis, director at Sky Movies, said that the film would retain elements of the original while "updating it for the 21st century". The director and cast have yet to be decided.

Remakes of cult favourites have become common in Hollywood in recent years but the hit rate has been patchy.

guardian.co.uk ? Guardian News and Media Limited 2008

[colinian]

I think this is a bad idea. The original is so camp and so perfect a remake can't help but be second rate. But if it's produced I'll still go see it in a theater anyway.

We have both a VHS tape and a DVD of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at home. I think it's hilarious.

My folks tell stories about going to Berkeley to see TRHPS and the people who dressed up like their favorite characters who were in the audience and even up on the stage in front of the screen. Everyone in the audience spoke the lines and sang along with the movie. My folks say they had so much fun every time they went to see it. It was shown every Saturday night at the UC Theater on University Avenue. The theater closed in 2001, and TRHPS disappeared from Berkeley.

Colin

[Res Ipsa Loquitur]

Deleted

[DesDownunder]

As a cinema projectionist I have screened TRHPS many times from its original release right through to its many incarnations with live audience interaction. I agree with the above sentiments of why bother remaking something that was unique in its own perfect way the first time around?

But let us not forget that today's movie making is far different from those of 30+ years ago.

The very showmanship of the live cinema, its theatrical presence and the sense of involvement is lacking in today's cine-complexes. If I were just sweet 16 again, the cinema of today would not entice me to be a projectionist.

Great movies are few and far between today. Maybe that is why they try to remake the ones that were so good.

What is forgotten is that the way a movie is viewed, the environment in which it is seen, and the way it is screened all affect the audience's perception and enjoyment.

Don't get me started or I will be here all night cursing the idiots who have destroyed the soul of a great art form.

[Richard Norway]

It's sadly true what Des is saying...movies today have lost that theatrical form and that very few truly good movies are made today. Audiences do applaud much more today after a movie is finished, but that's about it. I don't believe Rocky's remake has anything to do with esthetics or art. It's all about the potential monitary gain by playing up to the fervor over the original. Directors do try to put their art into their productions, but they're hampered by the producer's budget being pushed on them.

On another note. Colin, when you go see the remake. you've got to go in costume. You'll enjoy it much more that way, and...WE WANT PICTURES!

Richard

[DesDownunder]

Okay so which character should Colin choose to dress up as?

There's Brad, Janet, Frankenfurter, Riff Raff or perhaps even Rocky himself?

People tell me I should be Riff Raff.

[Bruin Fisher]

I see Colin as Brad.

[JamesSavik]

Damnit Janet!

[Richard Norway]

I see him as Janet too...with wig.

And lots of pictures of the guilty.

Richard

[JamesSavik]

No! No! No!

Colin is a cutie but he is definitely a guy. He's a Rocky if I've ever seen one.

[Tanuki Racoon]

I think this is a bad idea .....

My folks tell stories about going to Berkeley to see TRHPS .....

1. It's a fucking horrid idea.

2. Colin, son, I hate to tell you this. Back in the day I used to go to RHPS at the theatre on University all the time with all my friends. I probably MET your parents and didn't even know it -- hell I probably joined them in a round of Ring Around The Virgin. This is scary.

[Abraxas]

Oh God, not another second rate remake!

Who are they going to get to play Tim Curry's role? Like him or not, his performance makes RHPS.

I can see it now: "Vin Diesel in The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (shudders)

Be afraid...be very afraid.

Rick

PS By the way, Wibby old boy, you're dating yourself here....

[Tanuki Racoon]

PS By the way, Wibby old boy, you're dating yourself here....

Of course I am. It's the only date I can get :(

[Cole Parker]

My understanding is he's been dating his hand for years.

C

[colinian]

No! No! No!

Colin is a cutie but he is definitely a guy. He's a Rocky if I've ever seen one.

Thank you James. I agree. I can see myself as Rocky. Wearing a tiny gold Speedo, sexy as all hell, and horny as a goat. And better looking than the Rocky in the picture because my hair is this fantastic auburn-red color instead of blond-white.

Colin

[colinian]

Oh God, not another second rate remake!

Who are they going to get to play Tim Curry's role? Like him or not, his performance makes RHPS.

Of course it's going to be second-rate; maybe even third or fourth: MTV is producing the remake. They'll probably use Tim Allen to play the Tim Curry role.

Colin

[The Pecman]

I can see myself as Rocky. Wearing a tiny gold Speedo, sexy as all hell, and horny as a goat. And better looking than the Rocky in the picture because my hair is this fantastic auburn-red color instead of blond-white.

Note that the bodybuilder/model who starred as "Rocky" in the movie never made another film, and retired soon after and works with his longtime partner in their antiques store somewhere in England. He usually doesn't talk about Rocky Horror, but I think he gave one interview about it, and basically said it was a long time ago, and it has nothing to do with his life anymore.

But man, he was hot in that film, no question.

BTW, Tim Curry used to be the next-door neighbor of a friend of mine in Toluca Lake. I never could weasel out of him whether or not Curry was gay, but he did say that Tim had some wild parties in the mid-1980s. But he also said Tim was a very gracious and kind gentlemen, and gave them fair warning whenever he held the parties, and kept things quiet after midnight.

[Camy]

Because I had a relative that invested in it, I was lucky enough to see the original theatre production on the King's Road. London. My mother took me - a perfect way to embarrass a 12 year old! Frankenfurter is the best role in any musical ever - by far!

Richard O'Brien has talked about writing a sequel for years. I guess if you're lucky enough to create something magical it's hard to top it, and maybe best not to try. That said, I think it's sad that producers can't find new writers to back, rather than latching on to a truly timeless and one off meme.

Camy

[E.J.]

Who are they going to get to play Tim Curry's role?

According to IMDb:

British funnyman Russell Brand is expected to take the lead role in the remake of cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, according to reports.

[The Pecman]

Lotta news about this remake on IMDB, not much of it good:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073629/news#ni0553803

[Tanuki Racoon]

Lotta news about this remake on IMDB, not much of it good:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073629/news#ni0553803

Cries.

[The Pecman]

You know, the movie I loved much more than Rocky Horror was Phantom of the Paradise, a seldom-scene rock musical from the same era. This was the retelling of Faust, with a songwriter essentially selling his soul to the devil in order to get a career writing hits for a woman he secretly loves, framed around a remake of Phantom of the Opera.

Damn, that's a great movie, full of humor and terrific music, and probably the best role actor/songwriter Paul Williams ever had.

My partner and I still crack jokes about some of the lines from that film, like when the movie's hero shows up at a record label, and the receptionist takes his name, checks her Rolodex, and his entry says "Never To Be Seen." She hits a hidden button, and security guards drag him away and toss him in a dumpster.

Hollywood studios are like that.