Joe Eszterhas Is Writing “Anti-Woke” Basic Instinct Reboot for Amazon

Joe Eszterhas is coming back to Hollywood. According to The Wrap, the 80-year-old screenwriter behind the famous 1992 film Basic Instinct is writing a new version of the movie for Amazon MGM Studios and United Artists.

He’s getting $2 million just for writing the script, and another $2 million if the film actually gets made. That makes this one of the biggest script deals of the year.

The new movie doesn’t have a title yet, but it’s being described as “anti-woke” by people close to the project. That suggests Eszterhas is planning to return to the shocking and bold style of the original.

The producers are Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt from United Artists, along with Craig Baumgarten from Vault Entertainment. Adam Griffin is executive producing.

Another big surprise is that Sharon Stone might return as Catherine Tramell, the mysterious and dangerous character that made her famous. Known for her cold stare and the iconic leg-crossing scene, Stone’s role in the first film caused a lot of controversy but also made her a star.

Basic Instinct was a major hit in 1992 but it also caused a lot of problems. Before filming even finished, gay rights activists were protesting because they didn’t like how the movie showed a bisexual woman as a violent killer.

Some of these protests happened right on the set while they were shooting in San Francisco, with police present to control the crowds. Protesters said Hollywood kept using harmful stereotypes in movies.

When the movie was released, the protests continued. Lesbian and bisexual activists held signs outside theaters that said things like “Catherine Did It!” and “Hollywood Promotes Anti-Gay Violence.” Director Paul Verhoeven said he supported their right to protest, but he didn’t like the disruptions they caused. He said, “Fascism is not in raising your voice; the fascism is in not accepting the no.”

Even Sharon Stone faced protests. When she hosted Saturday Night Live, activists tried to rush the stage in protest of Basic Instinct but were stopped by security.

Film critics spoke about the controversy too. Roger Ebert said in his review that both the straight and gay characters in the movie were shown as terrible people, so he didn’t see the accusations of homophobia as entirely fair. Meanwhile, Camille Paglia defended Sharon Stone’s performance, calling it “one of the great performances by a woman in screen history.”

Women’s rights groups also had problems with the film. They said it was violent towards women and sent harmful messages about relationships and sexual violence. In France, one town’s mayor even banned the movie, saying it encouraged crime and rape.

In later years, Eszterhas apologized for one thing in the movie: all the smoking. He was diagnosed with throat cancer and said he regretted glamorizing cigarettes in his films.

Now, decades later, Eszterhas is back, and it sounds like the new Basic Instinct is going to stir up just as much conversation as the first one did.

Reports made available by The Wrap.

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