3 hours ago
3
Joe Eszterhas, the screenwriter of 1992 smash Basic Instinct, is to write a reboot sources close to the project are calling “anti-woke”.
As first reported by the Wrap, Eszterhas, 80, has signed a deal with Amazon MGM for the script; the streamer guarantees a $2m fee, which will be upped to $4m should the film be made, making it the most lucrative spec sale of the year.
The original film starred Sharon Stone as a serial killer author who has an affair with the investigating detective, played by Michael Douglas.
An interrogation scene in which Stone’s character uncrosses her legs, without underwear, made the film infamous. Stone later said revealing shots were captured without her consent.
“To those who question what an 80-year-old man is doing writing a sexy, erotic thriller: the rumours of my cinematic impotence are exaggerated and ageist,” Esztherhas said in a statement to the Wrap.
“I call my writing partner the TWISTED LITTLE MAN and he lives somewhere deep inside me. He was born 29 and he will die 29 and he tells me he is ‘sky high up’ to write this piece and provide viewers with a wild and orgasmic ride. That makes me very happy.”
It remains unclear whether Stone’s character, Catherine Tramell, will return for the film, as she did for the 2006 belated sequel directed by Michael Caton-Jones without involvement from Eszterhas.
That film was both a critical and commercial failure, making back just half its budget, while the original made some $352m (more than $800m adjusted for inflation).
In 2018, Eszterhas told the Hollywood Reporter that the most problematic aspect of the first film was a sex scene between Douglas and his character’s psychiatrist, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, who said in 1993 that director Paul Verhoeven had described a “lighter” encounter to her before filming.
Some “serious #MeToo protesters” would take issue with the sequence, he said. “It was rough sex,” he added, “but today’s yardstick is different.”
According to an individual with knowledge of the deal who spoke to the Wrap, the reboot is expected to be “anti-woke”. The first film attracted criticism from gay and lesbian activists for its portrayal of homosexual relationships and its depiction of the central murderous bisexual psychopath. The National Organisation for Women was among those who also took issue with its treatment of women, calling it “the most blatantly misogynistic film in recent memory”. One French mayor banned the film from showing in his municipality, calling it an apology for rape.
After being diagnosed with throat cancer, Eszterhas apologised for the film’s glamorisation of smoking. After the success of the film, he wrote scripts for films including Sliver, Showgirls and Jade before moving back to Ohio and returning to his Catholic faith.
A planned collaboration with Mel Gibson in 2012 on a biblical film fell apart after Eszterhas accused Gibson of being unhinged and encouraging antisemitic supporters to attack him.
The Basic Instinct reboot is the latest in a number of pricey blockbuster projects from Amazon MGM Studios, including the Ryan Gosling sci-fi Project Hail Mary and the first in the studio’s series of James Bond films, to be directed by Denis Villeneuve.
