Basic Instinct screenwriter shares reboot update
A new version of the film could be coming - ignoring the sequel...
Joe Eszterhas, the writer behind 1992’s erotic thriller Basic Instinct, has given an update on the planned remake of the film, following reports that he was hired to pen an update for Amazon MGM Studios‘ United Artists.
This remake will be an updated version of the original film by director Paul Verhoeven, starring Michael Douglas as a detective tasked with questioning Catherine Tramwell, a wealthy and ‘seductive’ crime novelist and heiress, played by Sharon Stone. Verhoeven’s film triumphed against mixed reviews and controversy due to its graphic nature to achieve box office success, becoming the fourth highest-grossing release of its year, and citation as the ultimate erotic 1990s thriller.
Basic Instinct was followed by a 2006 sequel, which saw Stone return without Verhoeven and Douglas but was joined by David Morrissey and was a critical and commercial failure. A reboot of the first film was announced last year, with Scott Scueber as producer.
“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,” the screenwriter stated upon the news.
Now, writer Eszterhas has assured that any direct update given will be “fun and enjoyable” and that he has”just finished the script and we’ll see.” The screenwriter addressed which familiar faces will be returning, as well as who will be new blood.
“Catherine Tramell is in this one, and so is a new character, her daughter, Jezebel,” the writer added. “I can’t say too much about it.”
Commenting on the unsuccessful and shameful sequel, Eszterhas also revealed he was handed “a million five to have nothing to do with it” and “didn’t think they wanted to take the kind of creative chances the original did.”
“What they did was turn it into a bland police procedural. They set it in London and the whole piece was really boring. It didn’t have any humour. It didn’t have the spice and earth and wit of the original,” he shared. “In the 30 years since it came out, I went through a lot of Basic Instinct revivals and saw audiences who just adored the fucking movie.”
When asked about returning to the reboot, actress Stone stated, ““There’s not going to be a Basic Instinct reboot, I hate to break it to you, but Joe Eszterhas couldn’t write himself out of a Walgreens drug store.”
Source: Deadline
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