Every Unproduced Rocky Horror Picture Show Sequel

1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show could have had an encore in the form of three unproduced Rocky Horror Picture Show sequels from its original creator Richard O’Brien. It was O’Brien who wrote the original musical and played Riff Raff and has repeatedly tried to produce follow-up projects to the 1975 cult classic. His attempts have spanned decades and proposed multiple different stories that could have played out after the events of Rocky Horror.

The now-legendary Halloween hit The Rocky Horror Picture Show did not perform well upon initial release, but eventually gained traction with midnight screenings for niche audiences. It is still being played today, holding the record for the longest-running theatrical release in the history of film. Actor Laverne Cox led a Rocky Horror Picture Show TV remake in 2016 and there has even been a resurgence of Rocky Horror on the Box Office Charts more than four decades after it originally premiered. The story follows a newly-engaged couple, Brad and Janet, who stumble upon the abode of mad scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter and the film inhabits a quirky and campy world that has garnered a lot of love from fans over the years.

There would certainly have been plenty of demand to make a sequel, though that was not enough to combat the behind-the-scenes complications suffered by Richard O’Brien’s attempted continuations. Here are the three unproduced Rocky Horror Picture Show sequels and why they didn’t happen.

Rocky Horror Shows His Heels

O’Brien conceived his first unproduced Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel in 1978 FOX was ready to produce it as long as Tim Curry would return as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. However, Curry rejected doing a Rocky Horror sequel, effectively putting an end to the proposed sequel. In O’Brien’s script, Frank-N-Furter is revived and learns Janet is pregnant with his child. The good doctor celebrates by transforming the people of a small town into transsexuals with fairy dust. However, once Janet has the baby, it is stolen by Frank-N-Furter’s nemeses from the original film, Riff Raff and Magenta, and the story ends with Frank-N-Furter dead (again) and the villains running off with the baby.

The Brad And Janet Show

Rather than an outright Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel, The Brad and Janet Show would have been a non-canon, alternative story that reworked the songs O’Brien had written for Rocky Horror Shows His Heels. This project would have seen Brad and Janet getting caught up in the schemes of a fake mental institution run by Farley Flavors – who would actually turn out to be Brad’s long-lost twin. Future Home Alone 2 villain Tim Curry once again declined to join the film, in which he would have played both Brad and Farley. Janet performer Susan Sarandon may have returned, but she asked for more money than the filmmakers were willing to pay. After a Screen Actors Guild strike in 1980, the project was officially canned. Not one to throw away so much hard work, O’Brien later recycled elements from both unproduced Rocky Horror Picture Show sequels into 1981 film, Shock Treatment. While this still features recast Rocky Horror main characters such as Brad and Janet, it but was not nearly as well-received as its predecessor.

Revenge Of The Old Queen

The final unproduced Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel disregarded the last two failed screenplays entirely and Tim Curry’s Frank-N-Furter presumably wouldn’t have returned. Revenge Of The Old Queen is a 1988 script from O’Brien that features Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s mother, the Old Queen, ruler of the planet Transsexual, seeking revenge against Riff Raff for her son’s death. Riff Raff tries to go back in time to prevent himself from murdering Frank-N-Furter, but the plan fails horribly and ends in a bloodbath. Once the Old Queen dies, Janet and Frank-N-Furter’s fully-grown son, Sonny, becomes the new ruler of planet Transsexual. The script for this project can be easily found online for those who are curious and craving a Rocky Horror Picture Show sequel.