Richard O'Brien reveals this famous rocker tried to buy ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show' film rights
In the new documentary 'Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror,' creator Richard O'Brien revealed that Mick Jagger and his team tried to buy the film rights to 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' after the stage show made its US debut in 1974.
But director Jim Sharman advised that they shouldn't go for Jagger's deal, and with producer Lou Adler's help, they created the film without a big name attached.
8 Richard O'Brien, Tim Curry and Patricia Quinn a lobby card from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.'
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8 Mick Jagger performs with the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in 1975.
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'One of the great things about this is that we were a fringe theater event, and we were allowed to make a movie,' O'Brien, 83, said in the doc, according to People.
'Not only that, but Jim was allowed to direct it. Not only that, but Brian Thompson was allowed to be the artistic director. Not only that, but Tim [Curry] was allowed to play the lead role,' the famous producer continued. 'That's very rare, especially when it's America and a Hollywood matter.'
8 Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Jonathan Adams and Peter Hinwood on a lobby card from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.'
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Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta in the original stage play and the 1975 film adaptation, revealed that Jagger, 81, was also interested in Curry's role in the movie.
[There were] three people who wanted to play [Dr. Frank-N-Furter] — Mick Jagger, Lou Reed, and of course, David Bowie,' Quinn, 81, recalled.
'[They said] no Mick Jaggers, no Bowies, I'm having the original cast,' she added.
8 Mick Jagger with Sue Mengers at a stage production of 'The Rocky Horror Show' in Los Angeles.
Penske Media via Getty Images
As revealed in the doc, 'The Rocky Horror Show' made it to the big screen after producers Adler, 91, and Michael White made a $1 million deal with the studio. They agreed to present their own funds if the film didn't make that amount, per People.
'From the beginning, I had the feeling it was an event and something very, very special by the cast and the music, immediately,' Adler recalled of the original stage production, which premiered in London in 1973.
8 Richard O'Brien at the Oxford Union in March 2004.
CLA/LFI
'Enough so that I wanted to make a deal that night,' he added.
Adler also said that The Roxy in Los Angeles was the 'perfect' location for the show's debut in America.
'Sort of like cabaret, that you could go beyond sitting in a theater but you could enjoy the whole experience of it. And in the back of my mind, I just envisioned it as a film pretty much from the beginning,' Adler shared.
8 Lou Adler at his Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony in 2006.
© Mark Savage/Corbis
He continued, 'The casting for the Roxy, we had some very, very talented people, most of who were local actors. I thought pretty much I couldn't duplicate Tim Curry. That was somebody we had to bring over, and that went for Richard also. But not only the fact that you're getting the actor that was in it, you're getting the creator.'
8 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' stars Richard O'Brien, Tim Curry and Patricia Quinn.
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8 Patricia Quinn, Tim Curry, Nell Campbell in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show.'
©20thCentFox/courtesy Everett
Adler recalled that the first 'Rocky Horror Show' show in LA was 'something really special.'
'We had a turn out of the rock and roll celebrities, the John Lennons and everyone wanted to be there for it,' he said.
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