Harley1980
Like the cult status of Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) was all but ignored on its initial release, only to become a long-term blockbuster because of its devoted fan base.
A) Like the cult status of Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
B) As the Rocky Horror Picture Show's (1975) cult status
C) Like that accorded to Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
D) As it is of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
E) Like the Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
This is a comparison, and the prompt has a classic GMAT error: comparing apples to oranges. Technically, this sentence compares "the cult status" of Rocky Horror to the movie Blade Runner, something surrounding a movie to another movie itself. This is incorrect. We have to compare either cult status to cult status, or movie to movie. Choices (A) & (B) & (C) all make this mistake, comparing something about the first movie to the second movie itself, so these are all incorrect.
Between the remaining answer, (D) & (E), we have an "as"/"like" split. The word "like" is used to compare noun to noun: like A, B. The word "as" is used to compare actions: A does this as B does that. Technically, both (D) & (E) are grammatically correct, but (E) is much more direct and concise than (D), so (E) is the best answer.