If you want more proof that studios just don’t understand what makes a cult hit, take a look at this story about Fox trying to set up a remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I mean, could anything be more ridiculous? I’m not even a Rocky Horror fan, but out of all the movies out there, this one has to be one of the least ripe for a remake. The 1975 original still has screenings around the world every year and people enjoy it because they know the songs and the dialogue like the back of their hand. I can guarantee you that none of the die-hard fans would give the remake a chance, even if it was actually good. So there goes your core audience. But aside from that, how do you take The Rocky Horror Picture Show and make it viable for a mainstream audience? You don’t, that’s how! This is a musical about “a transvestite alien from the planet of Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania (Sweet Transvestite)”. Somebody tell me how you can get the average Joe to pay money to see that.

Anyway, Fox’s ace in the hole was the hope that they could get Marilyn Manson to star in the remake. I suppose this would bring some measure of credibility to it, at least in the eyes of the goth subculture right? In a recent interview with E!, Manson confirmed that they’ve approached him about it. No word on what his response was, but last I heard he was busy trying to be a director. I wonder if they wanted him to rewrite the music for it too?