Why Tim Curry Rejected A Rocky Horror Sequel

Why Tim Curry Rejected A Rocky Horror Sequel

Rocky Horror Picture Show had a planned sequel in 1979, but it was canceled partly because Tim Curry refused to reprise his Dr. Frank-N-Furter role.

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Why Tim Curry Rejected A Rocky Horror Sequel

The cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show nearly got a sequel in 1979, but Dr. Frank-N-Furter actor Tim Curry rejected the idea. Based on the 1973 musical stage production of the same name, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a spooky classic following young couple Janet and Brad as they stumble onto alien mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s (future IT Pennywise actor Tim Curry) castle and laboratory. Throughout the night, Janet and Brad meet and become seduced by Frank, his creation Rocky, and bizarre alien servants.

The idea of a Rocky Horror sequel is still intriguing, but it really doesn’t need one. The movie is a cult classic for how odd and bizarre it is as a product of its time, and that would be difficult to replicate to the same effect. Rocky Horror has also never truly lost interest, with the film being introduced to new generations every Halloween as it retains a longevity for the classic interactive midnight screenings around the globe. Musicals that are already really campy with horror twists really don’t need follow-ups unless they’re modern remakes or live shows. Take Little Shop of Horrors’ original movie, for example: the movie never had a sequel or film revival (until now) and still holds its multi-generational cult status. Roger Ebert got it right when he reviewed Rocky Horror back in 1975, stating it’s less a movie and more of a “long-running social phenomenon.”

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Nonetheless, Rocky Horror’s creators were set on making a sequel in 1979, four years after the original’s release and its ever-growing cult following. Original Rocky Horror musical writer Richard O’Brien wrote the script entitled Rocky Horror Shows His Heels, which intended to bring back all of the characters from the original film, including Susan Sarandon’s Janet and Barry Bostwick’s Brad. The movie would have followed Dr. Frank-N-Furter being revived from the dead by three of the original characters to discover that Susan Sarandon’s character is pregnant and about to give birth to his baby. Eventually, the revival potion wears off, and after receiving insufficient blood to keep him alive, Frank decomposes as Janet’s rock ‘n’ roll gurgling baby confirms its true parentage. The Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel never came to fruition, largely because Tim Curry wasn’t interested in reprising his role and the executives were worried about following the original movie’s premise too closely.

Although Dr. Frank-N-Furter remains Tim Curry’s most famous role, he rejected the movie because he feared typecasting and had grown tired of being asked about Rocky Horror (via LA Times). When asked about the possibility of a Rocky Horror sequel after its release in 1975, Curry said if there was a sequel, it wouldn’t be with him in it. This essentially trashed the idea of a legitimate sequel for Rocky Horror’s original movie, because it wouldn’t be the same without Tim Curry in the lead role. Instead, the studio turned the scrapped sequel into the 1981 standalone follow-up Shock Treatment, which followed Janet and Brad Majors in a Truman Show-type premise where their small town consists of stars, crew, or audience members of a TV show. Shock Treatment wasn’t well-received, partly because Sarandon and Bostwick didn’t reprise their roles, but also because access was extremely limited by only releasing it on the midnight movie circuit.

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An official Rocky Horror sequel has never happened, but there was a made-for-TV remake in 2016 starring Orange Is The New Black’s Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Tim Curry declared he would never reprise his role, and while he kept that promise, he still appeared in the 2016 Rocky Horror remake as the Narrator. In reality, four sequels to Rocky Horror Picture Show were pitched over the years, and none — aside from the semi-follow-up Shock Treatment — came to fruition.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/rocky-horror-sequel-tim-curry-rejection-why/

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