Why is MTV remaking The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

[Chernabog]

From IMDB a few days ago:

Rocky Horror Creator Horrified By TV Movie Plans

14 August 2008 10:24 AM, PDT

Wednesday's announcement that the 1975 cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show would be remade for Britain's Sky Movies and the U.S.'s MTV has been knocked by the film's original creator, Richard O'Brien. Although the announcement said that O'Brien would co-produce the new version, O'Brien himself told the BBC: "I'm not co-producing it and I won't be involved in any way. The first I heard about it was when people sent me cuttings from U.S. papers." He also denied the suggestion that he had given the movie a seal of approval. "It doesn't have my blessing," he said. "I don't know where they'll go with it really. ... I've even heard that they're going to put new songs in. I wrote the book, the music and the lyrics. Where are they going to get the songs from? Who's going to do that? That's a bit strange isn't it?"

So much for the Charles Atlas seal of approval! *bark bark bark*

[lashbear]

Originally Posted by flippyshark

Back in the 80s, O'Brien wrote a musical called The Stripper - it was only ever produced in Australia. (Did either of the lashpair manage to see it?) You can download all the songs from it here. The most notorious song is called Man of Steel, which finds several creative ways to rhyme with "hard on." Enjoy.

nope.. too young

I do remember seeing the tv commercials for the RHS with Reg Livermore... my parents would usually try to distract me from the screen at the time... it didn't work.

[Fab]

I stopped at 299 times and am saving 300 for some future special occasion.

I think they're doing it so that they can follow up with

REVENGE OF THE OLD QUEEN!!!

[flippyshark]

I've read Revenge of the Old Queen, and wish I could hear the songs. Surely, this is what MTV should be making, not a redo of something that is already the perfect thing that it is.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Looks like it's not gonna happen.

MTV Nixes 'Rocky Horror' Remake
Project was to be produced by Lou Adler, BermanBraun
By Daniel Frankel
Nobody's doing the Time Warp again, after all.

MTV has scuttled earlier-announced plans to do a made-for-cable remake of the 1975 cult musical-horror classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

While not specifying a reason for why the project was killed, a spokeswoman for the Viacom-owned cable channel said the movie has been off the network’s development slate for some time.

A rep for Fox TV Studios, which was to be a co-producer of the film, said the decision to not go forward was made months ago.

MTV generated the expected amount of fanfare when it announced the remake last fall.

Lou Adler, producer of the original motion picture, was to exec produce the updated version in partnership with BermanBraun.

[Chernabog]

Hooray!!!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Guess they heard ya, Szczerb.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

For the record, I love Rocky Horror variations. I have literally dozens & dozens of Rocky Horror cast recordings from around the world in multiple languages. Each of them brings something new to the show. Some do it well, others not so much. I will go out of my way to see any production of The Rocky Horror Show that I am able.

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

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. Obviously RHPS is not the same caliber of film as GwtW or TWoO, but it's very much a part of American culture. (I know it's a British-made film, but the Europeans don't get into the film as much as they do the stage version.) I think any attempt to re-make RHPS would be a financial faux pas for the executive who green-lighted (lit?) it.

[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.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

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

I'm not sure cult film automatically equals flop. RHPS has made nearly $150 million over the years. It cost just about a million to make.

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

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

I used them as an example of beloved films, not cult movies.

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Also - remakes aren't usually supposed to be "better" than the originals.

Sure, they're supposed to be better. But how many times are they better?

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

In any case, I think the first thing you said goes against the rest of the post.
I have to say your whole post confuses me.

That's okay, I confuse myself sometimes.

And it probably doesn't help that I was posting while very tired and in severe pain.

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

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.

For me, and I suspect a lot of other RHPS fans, it's not so much that the movie is beloved, it's the experience. I don't do Rocky every week to see master cinematic opus. I go for the experience of audience participation mixed with live action mixed with filmed images mixed with some pretty damn good songs. Without all of those things RHPS is just another movie musical.