Emerald Fennell Shuts Down Basic Instinct Reboot Rumours
Despite previous reports, Amazon and reps for Emerald Fennell have denied the claims made by screenwriter Joe Eszterhas that the Saltburn and Wuthering Heights director is in talks to direct a Basic Instinct reboot.
In an interview with The Guardian, Eszterhas, who wrote the original film, claimed, “The producers are negotiating with a really interesting director – a Brit, Emerald Fennell – who did Promising Young Woman and Wuthering Heights. Her sensibility is exactly right. She’s someone who is not afraid of controversy and sexuality. So I’m thrilled by that. I hope it works out.”
However, Fennell’s reps told Deadline that there is “no truth in this,” and that “She is not involved in any way,” and a spokesperson for Amazon denied the claim, calling it “categorically false”.
The original film starred Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone and followed a violent police detective who investigates a brutal murder that might involve a manipulative and seductive novelist. The film was controversial at the time due to its graphic depictions of sexuality and violence, and faced protests for its negative portrayals of LGBTQ+ individuals. Despite public protests, the film grossed $353 million worldwide on a $49 million budget, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of 1992. Following its success and controversy, the film inspired many similar films and was labelled the quintessential erotic thriller of the 1990s by Criterion.
Despite the film’s success, Stone has been vocal about not returning to a reboot, saying that “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.” Previously stating, “If it goes the way the one that I was in went, I would just say, I don’t know why you’d do it, I mean, go ahead, but good fucking luck.”
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