It’s no secret that television – and in particular, Fox – is on a reboot roll right now. With The X Files, Prison Break, Lethal Weapon, and The Exorcist all filling out the small screen in 2016, the announcement of The Rocky Horror Picture Show was met with more of a sense of inevitability and resignation, than shock. Now, although it is not due for broadcast until the fall, the studio has released the first teaser trailer, and it does not disappoint.
When a concept has a long-standing, devoted cult following, in the way that The Rocky Horror Picture Show does, any attempt to reboot or re-imagine that concept is often met with derision and anger. In this case, however, the concept in question is almost the exception to the rule. Initially created as a stage production, before being adapted for film by its original authors Jim Sharman and Richard O’Brien in 1975, the beauty of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is that it is constantly reincarnated by stage performers.
The story is now infamous – beginning with the car of Janet Weiss and Brad Majors breaking down on a rainy night, and the young couple finding themselves on the doorstep of Dr. Frank-N-Furter – a sexually ambiguous, highly flirtatious, mad scientist from another world. The doctor is hosting a convention to showcase her latest creation, named Rocky Horror – a man she has created to fulfil her every desire.
The original film remains iconic – largely due to the performance of Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and the legend returns in this remake as the Criminologist Narrator. That fact, in itself, lends the project credibility.
This new teaser purposefully reveals very little of the music – something that will obviously a big part of what is needed to make The Rocky Horror Picture Show a success. What it does reveal, however, is the fact that Emmy nominee Laverne Cox is perfectly cast as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. While she does not appear to be doing what could be classed as an impression of Tim Curry in the role, she has clearly mastered the recognizable kind of chuckle her predecessor mastered in the original, and uses her voice to convey a large part of the character in exactly the right way.
All in all, this teaser bodes very well for The Rocky Horror Picture Show as a whole, and we’re looking forward to seeing the two hour television event arrive on screens during the Halloween period.
