Wuthering Heights filmmaker Emerald Fennell has been tapped and is currently in negotiations to direct a Basic Instinct reboot, according to screenwriter Joe Eszterhas.
“The producers are negotiating with a really interesting director – a Brit, Emerald Fennell – who did Promising Young Woman and Wuthering Heights,” Eszterhas told The Guardian in an interview. “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.”
We’ve reached out to Fennell’s reps for further comment.
Eszterhas is the screenwriter behind the original Basic Instinct, starring Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas. Last summer, it was reported that Eszterhas had locked a deal with Amazon to write a reboot of the thriller.
“To those who question what an 80-year-old man is doing writing a sexy, erotic thriller: the rumors of my cinematic impotence are exaggerated and ageist,” said Eszterhas in a statement at the time. “I call my writing partner the ‘Twisted Little Man’ and he lives somewhere deep inside me. He was born 29 and he will die 29 and he tells me he is ‘sky high up’ to write this piece and provide viewers with a wild and orgasmic ride. That makes me very happy.”
Eszterhas is a Hungarian-American journalist-turned-screenwriter whose hit titles include Flashdance (1983), Jagged Edge (1985), Basic Instinct (1992), and Showgirls (1995). He is best known for his provocative style that explores themes of sexuality, power, and moral ambiguity.
Stone starred in a 2006 Basic Instinct sequel, directed by Michael Caton-Jones. Eszterhas was not involved in that film, which was a critical bomb.
Early reports about Eszterhas’s reboot described the project as “anti-woke.”