Angry "Rocky Horror" fans want to

November 6, 2008 2:57 PM

stop the remake! I may not be one of the more hard core fans, but I agree with Will Wheaton.

A quote from the on line boycott of the MTV remake of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show"

"The movie is one of the most well known and financially successful midnight movies. It is the longest running theatrical release in film history. More than 30 years later it is still in limited release in cinemas around the world. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Richard O'Brian is not amused.

posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 (85 comments total)

"Part of me thought to soon."

Editors...they are really a good thing.
posted by GavinR at 3:00 PM on November 6, 2008

I don't really care about RHPS. I'm more worried about what they'll do with Clash of the Titans.
posted by JBennett at 3:00 PM on November 6, 2008 [4 favorites]

"I have no view on whether it should be remade but it doesn't have my blessing," he added.

Give him some time. I'm sure someone will explain the meaning of the term "gross points."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:01 PM on November 6, 2008

I think a remake, whether done well or poorly, can often focus renewed attention on the original. Remakes, in themselves, do nothing to take away from the original. Instead they provide a new context in which to compare to the original.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 3:11 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've been boycotting MTV for years, ever since they canceled The State. Even worse, they let them make a new DVD ... then never released it.

FUCK MTV.

Now what's this about Rocky Horror?
posted by mrgrimm at 3:12 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Not a huge fan, though I did make the requisite teenage trips to see it. Like scabrous said, remakes are easy to ignore anyway. Theaters aren't going to start showing some new version at midnight. It'll end up in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart (not that there's anything wrong with the bargain bin).
posted by Roman Graves at 3:14 PM on November 6, 2008

The remake is a bad idea, right up there with the remake of Hairspray (although the musical did give us Marisa Jaret Winokur. rrrowwr. Rocky was a product of it's time and place and that's waht made it so great. We live in a different time and place now. Plus, the fact that filmmakers seems interested in only remaking other movies and old TV shows is really fucking depressing.
posted by jonmc at 3:14 PM on November 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

It's "O'Brien" and "Wil."
posted by lumensimus at 3:15 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Thank you, Wil Wheaton, for your brave stance on this issue. I really wish that more former child stars would weigh in on the pressing cinematic concerns of our time.
posted by dhammond at 3:15 PM on November 6, 2008 [4 favorites]

My first thought is OMG No No!!! MTV has been off my radar for years.
posted by bjgeiger at 3:15 PM on November 6, 2008

Also, the night I took my first acid trip I went to Rocky, right after Laser Floyd. Quite an evening.
posted by jonmc at 3:16 PM on November 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

And hasn't The Big Lebowski shouldered the Ritualistic Generational Cult Movie mantle fairly well for the past decade? Let RHPS rest and come out on Halloween once a year.
posted by jonmc at 3:18 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

How could anyone even think about this without Tim Curry in the lead? Some roles are really defined by their actors and can never be filled out by another actor. I defy anyone here to name a better example of this.
posted by echo target at 3:19 PM on November 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

How could anyone even think about this without Tim Curry in the lead?

I also kind of enjoy the fact that no matter how many Oscars Susan Sarandon might win, on some level she's always going to be that SLUT! Janet. Sort of like John Travolta and Vinny Babarino.
posted by jonmc at 3:23 PM on November 6, 2008 [4 favorites]

I thought this was going to be Wheaton ranting about the new trek movie. Whew. RHPS, whatever.
posted by GuyZero at 3:41 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

I had to explain to my mother why I thought the idea of Hairspray as a musical was so funny. But then again, I think Mel Brooks broke the irony meter by bringing The Producers to Broadway.

Has MTV managed something that didn't vanish into the rubbish bin of obscurity five weeks after national release?
posted by KirkJobSluder at 3:42 PM on November 6, 2008

Gotta wonder if these are one of those fabled projects that is meant to lose money for some arcane tax dodge, or something. It's like that Anne Heche remake of "Psycho". Who's the braintrust who greenlit that? I envision some studio chief who knew he was about to be fired, or something.
posted by RavinDave at 3:46 PM on November 6, 2008

Let's not do the Time Warp again.

I want my MTV... dead.
posted by loquacious at 3:47 PM on November 6, 2008

My parents took me to see Rocky for the first time when I was about 16. I remember that there were these two young boys in front of us heckling and just generally being dillweeds and ruining everyone's fun. Finally, the actor who was playing Frank N. Furter grabbed a flask, took a big swig and just spit all over the two of them and said, "Now go home and explain to your parents why you smell like Peppermint Schnapps!"
posted by jrossi4r at 3:50 PM on November 6, 2008 [17 favorites]

Remakes, in themselves, do nothing to take away from the original. Instead they provide a new context in which to compare to the original.

Yeah, it's not like MTV is going to be storming movie theaters and forcing them to play the new version instead of the old. In the rare cases in which a remake eclipses an original, the original probably had it coming.
posted by Bookhouse at 3:51 PM on November 6, 2008

Watching a studio try and capture all that is great an quirky about the movie would be like Michael Bay capturing all that is tragic about cancer.

Epic Fail.
posted by munchingzombie at 3:55 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Has MTV managed something that didn't vanish into the rubbish bin of obscurity five weeks after national release?

That's what I thought.

I stopped watching MTV in 1987. I think it pretty much stopped being remotely relevant in 1993. Besides all the kids I know pretty much feel only losers, wanna-be's, and old people watch MTV.
posted by tkchrist at 3:56 PM on November 6, 2008

I saw that movie once alone and once at a "showing".

Worst piece of crap ever to be committed to celluloid.

But that's just me.
posted by chillmost at 3:57 PM on November 6, 2008

chillmost: you have to see it hammered out of your skull in a crowded theatre to really appreciate it. As your spiritual advisor, trust me on this.

(To observers: I knew chillmost over a decade ago. I don't appoint myself advisor to just anyone)
posted by jonmc at 4:00 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'm RHPSed out.

There were TWO productions of the live play/stage show in my hometown (of 100K people) this Halloween season. Sheesh. Can't someone else come up with an original cult piece for the millenium generation?
posted by CitizenD at 4:01 PM on November 6, 2008

When’s the last time you heard, like, music on MTV?
I mean, tons of stuff going on in the music world. Ways to get it, ways to distribute it, a whole multifaceted revolution going on. I’m at the gym and I’m seeing the Real World, The Hills and Wild Girls of Makos, all this reality show stuff.
It’d be nice to have something music related.

Not that this is it of course, remaking Rocky Horror is just an esurient, piggish grab for cash and I suspect the music in it will be secondary to the marketing circus it follows as will the high school pseudo-sexuality and grade school mentality.

Oh, I’m not a big Rocky Horror fan. I liked the experience of course (took my grandma. She said “Are they saying ‘suck dick?’”
‘Uh...yeah, gram, they are.’ - because you don’t like to your grandmother.
‘...they’re just kids!’
- not that she was saying ‘how dare they say that’, but rather - ‘what do *they* know about sucking dick?’
Look, Gram was pretty old, but my grandpa was a musician who played with some real heavyweights. A lot of big names. Later in life he worked with Quincy Jones. They had a big, big family who were all well traveled and seasoned too (mostly salty military types). So, yeah, she knew wtf was going on and was plugged in to everything that was hip well before I was a gleam in anyone’s eye.
She fell asleep during the show. Pretty much all she had to say at the end was “Eh. Kids.” And told me about Pachucas at dances in L.A. in the 50s which pushed gender roles long before Rocky Horror)

- but MTV is so juvenile in it’s attempt to be shocking.
And all the self-absorbtion and strategic image creation in this pseudo-sexy soft core porn with no payoff (a’la’ Bill Hicks) just drains all the playfulness out of everything.
All I saw Rocky Horror had going for it was the playfulness. Which was considerable, really. But still - just make a soft core porno musical.
Oh, right, you’d need an original idea for that, right.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:01 PM on November 6, 2008 [3 favorites]

It's just a jump to the left.
posted by bwg at 4:04 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

I did NOT get up on a stage, every Saturday night for nearly 2 years, cross-dressed, half-dressed and in other varying states of dress, just to have the good and grand memories of my youth destroyed by MTV. Fuck them in their dirty assholes.

or something.

My mother took me to see a RHPS at the local community college when I was 7 or 8. I got hit in the head with a roll of toilet paper, and got rice in my eye. We got kicked out because my mom threatened to give a beatdown to several stones ricetossers. RHPS has a special place in my heart.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 4:05 PM on November 6, 2008 [5 favorites]

you don’t lie to your grandmother. Sorry.
posted by Smedleyman at 4:05 PM on November 6, 2008

I honestly believe the RHPS fans really have nothing to worry about. There are not too many people (in there right mind) who are going to trust anything that comes out of MTV. I make it a point to seek out the original of a movie before seeing the remake. Too many awful things have happened in the world of remakes. I think people are a little more cautious nowadays.
posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 at 4:06 PM on November 6, 2008

RHPS is totally overrated.
posted by GavinR at 4:08 PM on November 6, 2008

There were TWO productions of the live play/stage show in my hometown (of 100K people) this Halloween season. Sheesh. Can't someone else come up with an original cult piece for the millenium generation?

There's the problem. Way too many people have been trying to make "cult" films. (Taranino I'm looking at you). And they suck shit.

The only honest, somewhat new, "cult" films are Lewbowski and Show Girls becuase the support for them grew organically.
posted by tkchrist at 4:10 PM on November 6, 2008

I'm more worried about what they'll do with Clash of the Titans.

FUCKING WHAT YOU SAY?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:11 PM on November 6, 2008

I think if didn't see RHPS in 1970's or early 1980's you can't really understand why it has such a fond place in the hearts of the fans. It was pretty damn unique. Now it's almost passe.
posted by tkchrist at 4:12 PM on November 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

That movie is GAY!

(and I love it, just the way I've been rehearsed to respond to it from the audience.)
posted by Balisong at 4:20 PM on November 6, 2008

Can't someone else come up with an original cult piece for the millenium generation?

Because of ass holes like MTV (who don't give a shit about music any more) and the general lack of imagination in the movie industry, there would have to be a miracle for that to happen.
posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 at 4:22 PM on November 6, 2008

Show Girls...wow that is somthing I wish I could uwatch.
posted by SheMulp AKA Plus 1 at 4:29 PM on November 6, 2008

WTF, they're re-making Rocky Horror? Really? Why?

Bunch of savages.
posted by paisley henosis at 4:31 PM on November 6, 2008

Worst piece of crap ever to be committed to celluloid.

Well, that's the point. Manos Hands of Fate isn't good, either, which is why people like it.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 4:35 PM on November 6, 2008

Well, I thought the original could have used more nudity. And, JBennett, I thought the same thing about "Clash of the Titans."
posted by cjorgensen at 4:35 PM on November 6, 2008

strangeleftydoublethink: "I think a remake, whether done well or poorly, can often focus renewed attention on the original. Remakes, in themselves, do nothing to take away from the original. Instead they provide a new context in which to compare to the original."

Oh no, remakes have often discolored the original for me to the degree that I can't ever watch either again.

I'd make a list, but it would be too painful.
posted by cjorgensen at 4:43 PM on November 6, 2008

When I was an undergrad and home for one break or another RHPS was released on VHS. My father dutifully went to the video store and rented a copy. He sat down on his couch to watch it, popcorn in hand, and complained that he didn't get it.

This was back before "EPIC FAIL" had been invented so I was at a loss for words. My father is vastly less cool than Smedleyman's grandmother.
posted by stet at 4:45 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

There's the Picture Show, and then there's Rocky Horror. If you haven't been to a live performance, I suggest you watch the movie first. Then, read some of the things to bring along, if you don't have any friends who can tell you what to expect. Don't bring EVERYTHING on the list, otherwise you'll go in with a tote bag of stuff. Read, but don't memorize all the lines to say along with the movie - each group has their own variation of the alternate lines.

The movie alone is campy and fun. The live show is even more fun, if you enjoy getting a bit wet, throwing rice, throwing toast, shouting with crowds, and dressing up. If it's too rowdy, look for a nice Sound of Music sing-along - they're generally a more civil crowd.

As for remakes -- they're often glitzy hacks at recapturing some of the original feel, with less interesting actors and more special effects budget. Mtv's remake sounds odd. io9 has a couple interesting points - How can you remake something that has already been remade thousands of times over by its audiences? ... Plus, there's simply no way that the 1970s sexytime tale of a "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania" could ever be told or retold in an era of safe sex and gay marriage. These days, Frank N Furter would just get married to Rocky, settle down, and move to the suburbs. What can Mtv do with some new songs and a new cast that will hold a candle to the original?
posted by filthy light thief at 4:50 PM on November 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

Worst piece of crap ever to be committed to celluloid.

Well, that's the point. Manos Hands of Fate isn't good, either, which is why people like it.

NO, that's not why people like Rocky Horror. It's one of the great movie musicals ever. Each song is a gem, each production number iconic. Tim Curry's entrance is one of the great entrances in all film - no wonder Susan Sarandon swoons!

I'd note that in Australia, it's shown on TV every Christmas Day - people watch because they love it, not because it's bad.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 5:00 PM on November 6, 2008 [4 favorites]

Ya know, I watched my 7 year old niece "jump to the left" and "pelvic thrust" at her recent school holiday dance production in New Zealand. Odd given the first time I saw the movie was in a college town in texas 30 years ago.

As others have said, who gives a rats about mtv any more. Let them waste their money however they want.
posted by michswiss at 5:24 PM on November 6, 2008

Joan Jett weighed in, via one of our own.
posted by nanojath at 5:30 PM on November 6, 2008

Has MTV managed something that didn't vanish into the rubbish bin of obscurity five weeks after national release?

Not much.

I didn't really like any of these movies myself, but I've heard that other people do:

Election - 1999
The Original Kings of Comedy - 2000
Napoleon Dynamite - 2004
Hustle & Flow - 2005
posted by mrgrimm at 5:31 PM on November 6, 2008

MTV didn't cancel The State. Showalter, Wain, Lennon et al thought they had a better deal with NBC and bailed from MTV unceremoniously. Then the deal with NBC fell through, so they were left with nothing.

At least, this is the version the members of The State themselves have put out there, badgering themselves for being so young and foolish as to let it happen.
posted by Navelgazer at 5:33 PM on November 6, 2008

Lipps Inc.
Blue
posted by Balisong at 5:39 PM on November 6, 2008

Worst piece of crap ever to be committed to celluloid.

Oh, c'mon. Even my mom liked it, and she's as straight as they come. It's a good musical, and it's got quite an original/different story.

Last night I caught part of Center Stage: Turn It Up

Believe me, Rocky Horror Picture Show doesn't even come close to being the worst piece of crap ever committed to celluloid.
posted by mrgrimm at 5:40 PM on November 6, 2008

MTV didn't cancel The State

Well, they could at least release some tapes/DVDs ... the collection available is pretty slim.
posted by mrgrimm at 5:41 PM on November 6, 2008

Showalter, Wain, Lennon et al thought they had a better deal with NBC

It was CBS, and they aired one episode -- The State's 43rd Annual All-Star Halloween Special. CBS didn't market it at all, and worse, they scheduled it to run opposite the opening night of Saturday Night Live's 1995 season, which featured an all-new cast that included the debut of Will Ferrell.

Link goes to the second "shed" sketch from that season. Only one I could find. The original one is better.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:51 PM on November 6, 2008

Well, they could at least release some tapes/DVDs ... the collection available is pretty slim.

It's been entangled for years in a rights dispute. Remember all the music that was interweaved with the sketches? Incredibly difficult to clear all of that music for a DVD release, and no one wants to spend money re-editing and re-cutting the sketches. There was supposed to be a DVD release this year that did that, though.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 5:53 PM on November 6, 2008

Why worry? It will suck, and it will vanish without a trace, dragging everyone who green-lighted it with it.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:59 PM on November 6, 2008

As the parent of a kid who did a remake of a cult classic... I've got to say that this is a terrible idea...

The original was perfect...there is NO reason to remake this...
posted by HuronBob at 7:02 PM on November 6, 2008

Richard O'Brien himself tried to capture lightning in a bottle a second time with a sequel called Shock Treatment.

I understand it was not a great success.
posted by longsleeves at 7:39 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Stop the original!
posted by Saxon Kane at 7:52 PM on November 6, 2008

I'd note that in Australia, it's shown on TV every Christmas Day

I rather fear you've been misinformed.
posted by Wolof at 7:53 PM on November 6, 2008

What's with all the whining about MTV? This is going to be a movie that *premieres* on the Sky Movie Channel here in the UK. (Sky = Fox). How can *anybody* doubt that the best creative minds of our generation will be brought to this project?

Starving, hysterical, and naked aside from Westwood and Armani.
Dragging themselves through the dangerously-close-to-negro-but-temptingly-close-to-the-BBC streets of Notting Hill at dawn, looking for a cheeky little gram of yayo.

Fuck them in their dirty assholes.

I think you mean their pampered, bleached, shaven and deodorized assholes, but yes, I think the fucking part should be arranged. Ideally, by a flying wedge of psychotic club doormen, crazed on a combination of 'roid rage and cocaine bugs.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:45 PM on November 6, 2008

That movie was the linchpin of an evening spent watching a movie (natch) and then trying to get my seriously f'd up friends home without getting puke in my car or accidentally leaving someone behind. At one point we ended up parked while we waited for a friend to get back up, as he had stumbled out of the car while it was moving and then laid himself on someone's lawn. A someone who, it should be noted, came out of their home in a terry cloth bathrobe, greasy pompadour and blue suede slippers, a sleepy and annoyed Elvis for all intents and purposes, and just stood over our buddy making jokes about how pathetic he was until he got up and stumbled back to the car.

Remake THAT, ya greedy bastards.
posted by davejay at 9:58 PM on November 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

Why? At this rate, I'm assuming we're only a few years away from a big screen remake of the Purina Chuck Wagon Dog Food commercial.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:21 PM on November 6, 2008

Let them remake it. No problem. Just understand that the original and the remake will be able to stand out as divisions between cult movies and homogenized culture.

The sickest I've ever been was as a result of attending a Rocky Horror cast party somewhere in Berkeley after a routine Saturday night performance at the UC Theater. It was a combination of hallucinogens, malt liquor, and strobe lights, compounded by the proselytizing of some disciple of J. R. Bob Dobbs.

I was 14 or 15 at the time. I haven't been to a performance since. I don't think I needed to.

So what's a new Rocky Horror? Some Hollywood remake that re-enacts what the original actors did on-screen? Hell, I didn't even watch the original actors at the UC Theater shows, I watched the live actors doing the same thing in front of the screen.

As always, the virgins won't realize that the joke's on them. Nothing else will change.
posted by Graygorey at 11:55 PM on November 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

I am having a hard time working up any sort of outrage... all I have a is a vague "Meh..."

Maybe it's because I always disliked the original so much. I know, I know... but musicals just irritate me.
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:37 AM on November 7, 2008

Waste of time. Waste of money. Waste of effort.

Perhaps it is too much to ask for a shred of originality from these people? I would suggest that there are plenty of creative people who have film ideas that are worth persuing, whereas this pontless remake is not.
posted by asok at 3:46 AM on November 7, 2008

echo target: "How could anyone even think about this without Tim Curry in the lead? Some roles are really defined by their actors and can never be filled out by another actor. I defy anyone here to name a better example of this."

A good point, though not entirely true... If you've never seen Anthony Stewart Head (Giles, from Buffy) as Frank-N-Furter, you've definitely missed out. Craig McLachlan was crap though.
posted by benzo8 at 4:32 AM on November 7, 2008

Hmmm... this was supposed to be linked to "...definitely missed out..."
posted by benzo8 at 4:34 AM on November 7, 2008

There shouldn't be a remake...because there shouldn't be an original. It sucks. I said. It sucks.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 5:39 AM on November 7, 2008

I think it pretty much stopped being remotely relevant in 1993.

Honestly, this is just silly. Laguna Beach and The Hills were/are pretty damn big.
posted by smackfu at 5:51 AM on November 7, 2008

smackfu: How are Laguna Beach and/or The Hills any different than the sensationalist reality TV shows that air on Bravo or TLC? Apart from the demographic of the protagonists and the subject matter, there's nothing about those shows that's any different than any other basic cable reality series.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:59 AM on November 7, 2008

So what's a new Rocky Horror? Some Hollywood remake that re-enacts what the original actors did on-screen? Hell, I didn't even watch the original actors at the UC Theater shows, I watched the live actors doing the same thing in front of the screen.

posted by Graygorey at 11:55 PM on November 6


Actually, you know what? That is the key they could soooooo latch on to.

Imagine it: In every single shot is a screen taking up at least a third of the shot, which they are projecting the original movie's shot of that same scene. The actors could pass in front if it, whatever, no one needs to acknowledge it. But it should be in every shot, actually there, not green screened and cgi'd in later.

That would be killer.

Otherwise, yeah, this is doomed for failure, widely regarded as a bad idea and has made a lot of people angry.

And you know, here's the biggest problem: people are going to hear about this, there's going to be publicity and stuff surrounding it. And people are going to go see it. And some casts, many casts, will at least floor-show it at least once just for the novelty value, while, I'm sure, simultaneously mocking the living fucking hell out of it, far worse than the original, for at least with the original there was also love. And the virgins will be confused. The virgins won't get why anyone would think the whole sexual undercurrent would be so shocking, since, while the remake may be set in the times of the original, it won't have been made in the times of the original. You can believe that there were Brads and Janets, even in 1975. Are there any true Brads or Janets today, to be shocked, and more importantly surprised, for us at Frank's shenanigans? Even the most uptight right wing square these days knows about teh gheys, the transvestites, and wouldn't be shocked to see them in their midst. Sure, in '75 they might have existed somewhere else but not here in Denton. Denton is no more.

Seriously, Brad and Janet are the fucking lynchpin, and they just don't exist anymore.

Also, in this day and age, even castles have phones, asshole.
posted by Reverend John at 6:45 AM on November 7, 2008 [2 favorites]

The FB group established to organize a protest against the MTV remake is classified as a Religious Organization...

While no one advocates violence, there are some mentions of drive-by toast throwing at MTV offices.
posted by angry jonny at 6:56 AM on November 7, 2008 [2 favorites]

Yeah! Why not remake "The Apple".
posted by doctorschlock at 7:40 AM on November 7, 2008 [1 favorite]

Reverend John: Are there any true Brads or Janets today, to be shocked, and more importantly surprised, for us at Frank's shenanigans? Even the most uptight right wing square these days knows about teh gheys, the transvestites, and wouldn't be shocked to see them in their midst.

Part of what made Rocky Horror so brilliant is that it's a satire on the sexual panic that was latent in horror and grindhouse films. You just don't have films about a young virginal actress caught up in New York Hedonism, lesbian stripper gangs, or covens of lesbian vampires.

The whole joke behind the O'Brien/Sharman screenplay is that they knew that, under the surface, white-bread America was kinky and promiscuous and b-movies were porn with a thin moral wrapper. Rocky Horror pokes fun of a set of mixed messages that have not been staples of horror films since the early '90s. Jason X and Scream explicitly poked fun of the slasher standard in which sexuality foreshadowed death.

My first thought is that there isn't much of a point in remaking it, because we are not surrounded as much by the mixed messages that Rocky Horror parodies. For many of us, Brad and Janet is a tougher sell than a six-fingered cannibal shrink. But then I thought about purity balls so maybe not.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 8:32 AM on November 7, 2008

Look on the bright side! This sets the stage for a Tim Curry/Susan Sarandon remake of Joe's Apartment.

The cockroaches can be played by former and current MTV executives.
posted by malocchio at 8:32 AM on November 7, 2008

I saw RHPS when I was a genderqueer sexually confused teenager. I never was hardcore enough to go every single week like some of my friends, but it left the lasting impression on me that maybe I'm not quite as freaky as I thought I was, or maybe I was, and it didn't matter.

Also, Magenta sat on my lap and kissed me.

I don't know about this remake business. I don't know if a younger generation can ever grasp the original, so maybe they should have their own. But FFS, find your own voice. This is going to stink like glittery spray paint.
posted by desjardins at 9:17 AM on November 7, 2008

Sky announced on Wednesday that Lou Adler, executive producer on the original film, would return in the same role, while O'Brien would co-produce.

But, speaking on Wednesday afternoon, O'Brien 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 US papers."

He later told BBC Radio 5 Live that his involvement had been announced "to suggest I've given the project my seal of approval".

The original was "a wonderful movie", he said.

"I don't know where they'll go with it really," he added.

"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?"

Being the creator, doesn't he own the intellectual property? Why can't he just say no?
posted by desjardins at 9:26 AM on November 7, 2008

The Rocky Horror Show was, and is, great.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a mediocre film based on great material with great actors. That's why it bombed on its initial release, as have a number of cult films: the direction just wasn't that great, and the real charms of the production are only evident after repeat viewing. (I understand, from the Wikipedia article, that Jim Sharman is a talented theater director of long experience; the problem is that directing a film is very, very different from directing a stage musical, and the result in the case of RHPS is something that comes off as a naughty version of a third-season original Star Trek episode).
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:23 AM on November 7, 2008

Isn't it bad enough Russell Crowe was in it as a play?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=somEd35Xz2Q
posted by dasheekeejones at 11:36 AM on November 7, 2008

Halloween Jack: That's my feeling. Even though a musical is a musical, you still have to hold the audience's attention in the spaces between. RHPS suffers from some ugly pacing problems and transitions: the car scene and dinner come to mind as two scenes that are made tolerable by audience participation.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 11:41 AM on November 7, 2008

In other news, Spielberg and Will Smith thinking of Remaking Old Boy.
posted by Cantdosleepy at 12:34 PM on November 7, 2008

"the fact that filmmakers seems interested in only remaking other movies and old TV shows is really fucking depressing"
the really depressing thing is that there *are* filmmakers trying to make original films, but they can't get support from the studios, who prefer to sink money into crap remakes and ripoffs. A remake already has "an audience" that they feel they can market to, whereas an original idea is an unknown factor in their financial equations, and therefore not worth the risk. When marketing people are in charge of artistic endeavours, creativity is a liability.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:36 PM on November 7, 2008

In other news, Spielberg and Will Smith thinking of Remaking Old Boy.

There is no fucking way to pull off Old Boy for a mainstream American office. No way.
posted by graventy at 2:55 PM on November 7, 2008

Happily, youtube has preempted any "remakes".
posted by telstar at 8:21 PM on November 7, 2008

In other news, Spielberg and Will Smith thinking of Remaking Old Boy.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry or barf.

Strangely enough, this was the same reaction I had to the original version of Oldboy.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:33 PM on November 8, 2008

"Why? At this rate, I'm assuming we're only a few years away from a big screen remake of the Purina Chuck Wagon Dog Food commercial."

Kentucky Fried Movie.
posted by klangklangston at 7:10 PM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]