Basic Instinct, the 1992 erotic thriller that gave Sharon Stone her breakthrough role and started the modern trend of studios paying top-dollar for “spec” scripts, will be given new life. Joe Eszterhas, who penned the original script, has reportedly reached a $2 million deal with Amazon MGM Studios to write the screenplay for a reboot. Stone’s character, serial killer Catherine Tramell, reset the bounds of what a female protagonist could do in cinema—outsmarting the police officers investigating her, juggling multiple sexual partners, and using her killing spree as inspiration for her novels. While grossing more than $350 million at the box office and scoring two Oscar nominations, the original movie also moved one feminist scholar to call it a “neo-film noir masterpiece.” The proposed reboot seems unlikely to push boundaries in the same way, with an insider source telling TheWrap that the approach of the reboot will be “anti-woke.” It’s unclear if Stone will reprise her role as Tramell, whom she also played in a 2006 sequel that flopped at the box office. If she does return for the third installment in the series, she’ll be slated for a much bigger payday: she was paid just $500,000 for the original (compared to the $14 million payday Michael Douglas received as her co-star).
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