Thirty-three years after “Basic Instinct” sent shockwaves through American culture with its explicit depictions of sex and violence, The Wrap has reported Amazon MGM Studios’ United Artists and producer Scott Stuber has acquired the rights to a reboot straight from the film’s screenwriter Joe Eszterhas. The movie doesn’t have a title yet, nor are any details yet available of whether it is more of a sequel or a remake — other than it is reportedly going to be “anti-woke.” Upon its original release, the film did receive backlash from the LGBTQ+ community and feminists. Nick Nesbitt and Craig Baumgarten are also on board as producers of the reboot, with Adam Griffin serving as executive producer.
It’s a high-price deal, with up to $4 million going to Eszterhas if the movie makes it to completion, including $2 million guaranteed. Eszterhas made similar bank on the original film with a then-record $3 million for his script.
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“Basic Instinct” was not only one of the highest grossing films of 1992, it also is one of the most successful R-rated films of all time — though it was almost rated NC-17 before director Paul Verhoeven made minor cuts to get it to the more box office-friendly R. The salacious erotic thriller finds Michael Douglas’ Detective Nick Curran caught in a sexual game of cat-and-mouse with alleged killer and crime novelist Catherine Tramell, played in a truly iconic performance by Sharon Stone — who was far from the first choice for the role.
“I wanted to play her so badly that I had the script on top of my refrigerator for eight months. I just kept thinking, ‘I’m going to manifest this, I’m going to get this part,’ as they offered it to everybody else on the planet,” she told THR in 2024. “I was the 13th choice. The line producer told me that relentlessly though the entire shoot while he called me Karen. ‘You, Karen, were the 13th choice.’”
When her performance sent her into superstardom, she said she felt a sense of relief. “As I walked down the carpet in Cannes and a thousand people started chanting my name, I had such a surge of relief come over me, such a feeling of calm,” she recalled.
This isn’t the first time an attempt at revitalizing “Basic Instinct” has been made. Notoriously, in 2006, Stone returned for “Basic Instinct 2,” a film that was derided by critics and ignored by audiences, grossing only $38.8 million worldwide, versus its predecessor’s $352.9 million. Reports so far indicate Stone “could” return.
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