34 years later, Basic Instinct gets a reboot with a beloved original character back

If you were around in the early 90s—or fancy yourself a student of outrageous cinema—you'll know Basic Instinct was absolutely everywhere in 1992. The box office was enormous, the tabloid coverage relentless, and Sharon Stone basically had her pick of Hollywood for the next few years. That infamous interrogation scene has been parodied more times than I've had pub lunches. Flash forward to 2006, they brought Stone back for a sequel, Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, which... let's just say, did not set the world on fire. The original writer and director wanted no part of it. Neither, in fairness, did most filmgoers: the sequel flopped, making a dismal $38 million compared to the original's whopping $352 million haul.

Now They're At It Again

Here’s where it gets peculiar. As of July 2025, United Artists and Amazon MGM Studio decided they hadn’t poked the hornet’s nest enough, and tapped Joe Eszterhas—the chap who wrote the first film—to pen a new Basic Instinct movie. And not just any sequel either. He’s been specifically asked for something ‘anti-woke’, if you can actually believe that’s a brief handed out in meetings now.

"They came to me and asked, ‘Do you have any ideas for this?' And I said, ‘I do.’ I really talked about bare bones. As you know, after Basic, there was a so-called sequel…it’s really bad."

That’s Eszterhas speaking to Interview Magazine. And let’s be honest, he’s not subtle about his opinion on the failed sequel either (he called it ‘really bad’ multiple times in the space of one chat—sometimes you need to repeat yourself for effect, I suppose).

Big Pay, No Play

The juiciest bit from Eszterhas is how Universal paid him one and a half million dollars simply not to be involved with the 2006 disaster. He’s not exactly shedding tears over being left out: "It’s easy money," he said, pointing out that the sequel was desperate to avoid any of the controversy that made the original a touchstone (for better or worse).

What Universal made instead, according to Eszterhas, was a ‘bland police procedural’ with no wit, no sharpness, and the fun scrubbed out entirely—all washed down with the sodden drizzle of London instead of Beverly Hills heat. He’s spent the last three decades going to scores of Basic Instinct revival screenings, convinced the original still gets crowds fired up.

What’s In Store for This One?

This time out, Eszterhas isn’t holding anything back. Here’s what’s in the script, as he tells it:

• Catherine Tramell is back (the main event, let’s not pretend otherwise)
• She has a daughter: a new character named Jezebel
• The tone? ‘Fun and enjoyable’—his words

If you’re getting the impression this new installment will pretend the 2006 film never happened, you’re not alone. Eszterhas barely acknowledges it exists, other than to point at its corpse and laugh.

Will Sharon Stone Return?

So is Sharon Stone dusting off the white dress for a third go? At the moment: absolutely no clue. In fact, when asked about the project in August 2025, she didn’t sound especially eager to sign on.

"If it goes the way the one I was in went, then I would just say I do not know why you would do it... Go ahead. Good f***ing luck!"

Which, I think, says it all.

Where Does It Stand?

There’s no release date, no filming yet, and as of now, Eszterhas has only just handed in the script. If this film actually gets made, it’d be his first big feature since 2006’s Children of Glory. It’s worth remembering Eszterhas was once Hollywood’s highest-paid writer off the back of smash hits like Basic Instinct and Flashdance, but his run of flops (yes, including Showgirls, which has since become a cult legend) put paid to that.

Basic Instinct Cast

For the original: Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell, Michael Douglas as Nick Curran. The list of suspects, sidekicks, and red herrings is longer, but those two are who people remember. If the new film manages to haul Stone back, expect that name to get pride of place at the top of the billing once again.