Emerald Fennell Not Involved in ‘Basic Instinct’ Reboot Despite Joe Eszterhas’ Claims

Joe Eszterhas, at one time Hollywood’s highest-paid screenwriter, made waves Tuesday morning by revealing that “Wuthering Heights” and “Promising Young Woman” filmmaker Emerald Fennell was in talks to direct his new take on “Basic Instinct,” but it appears those waves were for naught.

“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,” Eszterhas told The Guardian of progress on the new “Basic Instinct” film. “She’s someone who is not afraid of controversy and sexuality. So I’m thrilled by that. I hope it works out.”

But shortly after that report went wide, a representative for Fennell commented that, “There’s no truth in this. She is not involved in any way.”

While now considered an erotic thriller classic, the first “Basic Instinct” courted controversy, both for its explicit content (which had to be trimmed to secure an R-rating) and for its depiction of gay characters.

“This movie links up sex and violence in an irresponsible way,” said Jehan Agrama, co-leader of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), told the Los Angeles Times in 1992. “We are not asking people to boycott this movie. We are not calling for censorship. We just want to educate people.”

For the reboot, which Eszterhas previously told TheWrap is “anti-woke,” he had hoped to have original star Sharon Stone return, although she made comments last year that she would not be back for the sequel, which Amazon MGM Studios paid the writer $2 million to write (with another $2 million should the movie be produced).

“If it goes the way the one that I was in went, I would just say, I don’t know why you’d do it,” Stone said on the Today Show. “I mean, go ahead, but good f–kng luck.”

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