Fox is doing the Time Warp: EW has learned the broadcaster will make a new TV version of the 40-year-old iconic film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
The musical midnight movie classic is getting a small-screen modern-day makeover. Only unlike NBC’s prime-time musicals and Fox’s own upcoming Grease, the Rocky Horror reboot will not be live.
The two-hour event will be directed, executive produced, and choreographed by Kenny Ortega (Xanadu, High School Musical) with original film producer Lou Adler as well as Gail Berman also on board. There’s no new writer credited, however, since Fox plans to stick to the text of the original 1973 play by Jim Sharman and Richard O’Brien.
Filming the project ahead of time should make it easier for Fox to find a cast since performing without a net in live musicals has made it tougher for broadcasters to fill roles with top talent. The project also helps keep Fox in the musical genre now that Glee has concluded.
The film’s sexual content shouldn’t be too difficult to navigate with a few trims. Though full of innuendo, it’s unlikely Rocky Horror would receive its original R rating by today’s standards.
Rocky Horror is celebrating four decades of theatrical distribution this year as the film still plays in midnight screenings around the world.