After nearly 35 years, Joe Eszterhas is returning to the fundamentals with a follow-up to his 1992 erotic thriller.
The screenwriter of Basic Instinct, who was approached last year to craft a reboot for Amazon MGM Studio’s United Artists, has provided an update on the project’s script. The new version will see the onscreen return of Catherine Tramell, originally portrayed by Sharon Stone. “They came to me and asked, ‘Do you have any ideas for this?’” Eszterhas shared with Interview Magazine. “And I said, ‘I do.’ I focused on the basics. As you know, after Basic, there was a so-called sequel… and it was really bad.”
In 2006, Sharon Stone reprised her iconic role in Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, directed by Michael Caton-Jones, which was penned by Leora Barish and Henry Bean. The sequel only earned $38 million worldwide, a stark contrast to the original’s $352 million success. Eszterhas reflected, “They paid me a million five to have nothing to do with it. It’s easy money. Nobody told me this, but I believed they didn’t want to take the kind of creative risks the original did. They wanted to avoid controversy. Instead, they turned it into a bland police procedural set in London, which was really boring. It lacked the humor, spice, earthiness, and wit of the original. Over the past 30 years, I’ve seen many Basic Instinct revivals, and audiences still adore that movie.”
After announcing his involvement in the upcoming reboot last summer, Eszterhas told Interview that his main condition was that the update should “be fun and enjoyable.” He added, “I just finished the script, and we’ll see what happens.”
He also revealed that the new story will feature Catherine Tramell and introduce a new character, her daughter Jezebel. “I can’t say too much about it,” he noted.
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