Why is MTV remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by SzczerbiakManiac

My dismay over the announcement to re-make RHPS was because I think it was a poor business decision.

You were worried about their bottom line? Why? My last concern when dealing with entertainment is whether someone makes money or not.

Not only can one not succeed at the attempt to deliberately make a cult movie, there are some things that simply cannot be made better, even if they are made better. I'll explain...

Wait, if you were deliberately making a cult movie, you'd want it to be a flop, not a cash cow.

Let's say someone in Hollywood got the wild idea to remake Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz. The could hire the best writer, director, actors, designers, etc. Even if they made a fantastic film, it could never be "better" than the 1939 version because those films are so ingrained in our psyches they're sacrosanct.

Wait again. What do these movies have to do with remaking a cult movie? These are the exact opposite of a cult movie.

Also - remakes aren't usually supposed to be "better" than the originals. They are made in various flavors - to take a good idea and make it current, take a good idea and take it further, take a good idea and push it into a different context, take a good idea and look at another angle...

In any case, I think the first thing you said goes against the rest of the post.

For the record, I love Rocky Horror variations.

I have to say your whole post confuses me.



Remakes and book-to-movie adaptations make me simultaneously excited and frightened, and I make no bones about it. Something that actually gets to "beloved" status is going to get all sorts of reactions as someone tries to re-imagine it. I try to take each on a case-by-case basis. For my part, I'd like to see a complete redo of RH, but that's only because I don't have as much emotionally invested in it as many others do. If you hate the idea of anyone touching your beloved film (believe me, I've got my own list locked in a vault somewhere) that's totally justified.