From Wuthering Heights to Basic Instinct: Emerald Fennell in Talks to Ignite a High-Voltage Reboot

Well, here's a reboot that's probably going to spark more Twitter threads than nostalgia: someone's actually trying to remake Basic Instinct. Yeah, that Basic Instinct — the 1992 movie your parents definitely didn't want you to see, fueled half of Sharon Stone's career, and basically defined what it meant to be a '90s erotic thriller. Welcome to Hollywood in the 2020s, where no legacy is off-limits if there's a hint of IP to mine.

But unlike a lot of sleepwalking reboots that feel more like brand management than actual filmmaking, this one comes with something close to a twist: Emerald Fennell — she of Promising Young Woman and Saltburn — is apparently circling the director's chair. That's according to Joe Eszterhas, who wrote the original and can always be trusted to drop a grenade or two in someone's lap when he talks to the press.

Why Fennell? No Boredom Here

On the surface, this is one of those "wait, really?" kind of moves, but the more you think about it, the more sense it makes. Fennell has carved out a lane for herself with movies that piss people off as much as they impress them. Promising Young Woman was divisive, Saltburn got people arguing, and "safe" is never the first word used to describe her stuff. Put simply: if you're rebooting a movie as deliberately icy, sleazy, and provocative as Basic Instinct, you probably don't want a director who's allergic to controversy — and Fennell does not seem allergic to much of anything.

Eszterhas himself — never one for understatement — is feeling pretty good about it, telling The Guardian:

"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."

The Risky Business of Bringing Sexy Back

This isn't just another run-of-the-mill nostalgia cash-in. Basic Instinct was notorious partly because it leaned all the way in — sex, murder, power games, all delivered with a kind of high-gloss bravado you just don't see from studios anymore. Even the poster is a history lesson in provocation. So if they're not willing to embrace the weird edginess and the heat, well, what's the point? And to be blunt: Fennell is probably the last person you'd hire if you wanted to round the edges off something like this.

It also raises the question: does anyone still want this sort of 'adult thriller'? Superhero movies and horror keep packing theaters. Prestige dramas compete for Oscar slots. Meanwhile, neo-noir thrillers about beautiful, slippery people playing mind games have basically been pushed out of multiplexes and onto late-night streaming. A new Basic Instinct would instantly find itself up against not only the original's legacy but also the current appetite (or lack of) for sexy, dangerous mainstream movies.

The Big Questions

• Will Fennell actually sign on, or is this just early negotiating noise?
• Who's reckless enough to try to fill Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas' shoes?
• Just how far is this reboot willing to go in terms of content, now that 'erotic thriller' is practically a dirty phrase in most pitch meetings?
• Most importantly: can a movie like this survive in the mainstream, or will this end up as headline bait and little else?

What we do know: as long as Fennell's name is in the conversation, this reboot already has a personality — and a built-in capacity to piss people off. Maybe that's the best way to justify going back to the Basic Instinct well in the first place.