Few films can boast the kind of legacy held by The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Still in limited release in 2025—half a century after its debut—it holds the title of the longest-running theatrical release in film history. What began as an eccentric stage show in a small London theater has transformed into a global cultural phenomenon unlike anything else in cinema.
The story of Rocky Horror begins with Richard O’Brien, an unemployed actor in London in the early 1970s. To pass the time one winter, O’Brien wrote what would become The Rocky Horror Show, blending his love of science fiction, B-movies, muscle flicks, and ‘50s rock and roll. Director Jim Sharman saw promise in the material, and together they launched the production at the 60-seat Royal Court Theatre. The show quickly snowballed, moving to larger London venues before making its way to Los Angeles, New York, and beyond.
When the time came for a film adaptation, much of the original London cast came along—including Tim Curry, who reinvented his role as Dr. Frank N. Furter with a flamboyant, posh accent inspired by the Queen of England. Filming took place at the dilapidated Oakley Court, where the cast endured harsh autumn conditions—Susan Sarandon famously contracted pneumonia during production. Despite these challenges, the film’s bold aesthetic emerged in part thanks to make-up artist Pierre La Roche, who had worked with Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and costume designer Sue Blane, whose work is often credited with influencing punk fashion.
Released in 1975, the film was initially a flop. It opened in London in August and in the U.S. that September, but audiences were sparse, and many theaters quickly dropped it. Its planned Halloween New York premiere was even canceled. Yet in April 1976, everything changed when the Waverly Theater in New York began showing it as a midnight movie. Fans didn’t just watch—they interacted. They shouted lines, dressed as characters, danced the Time Warp, and even threw props at the screen. A cult classic was born.
Thanks to 20th Century Fox’s policy of keeping its archive films available to theaters, The Rocky Horror Picture Show never left circulation. Even after Disney ended that policy in 2019, an exception was made for Rocky Horror—a testament to its unparalleled cultural status.
Today, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is celebrated not only as one of the greatest musical films of all time, but also as a living, breathing tradition of community, identity, and joyful rebellion. In 2005, it was added to the U.S. National Film Registry for its cultural significance.
Fifty years later, audiences still gather in theaters around the world to laugh, sing, and dance in fishnets and sequins. More than just a movie, Rocky Horror is a ritual, a party, and a reminder to embrace the strange. After all, as fans know best: it’s just a jump to the left.