PR in the Philippines

(SeaPRwire) –   UPDATE: Representatives for Emerald Fennell have refuted claims that the filmmaker is in negotiations to direct a Basic Instinct remake. According to Variety, a spokesperson for the director stated, “there’s no truth in this. She is not involved in any way.”

Borrowing from a well-known Star Wars meme, Emerald Fennell has somehow returned. Following her critically praised (and genuinely quite solid!) debut feature Promising Young Woman, the writer-director has drawn larger box office crowds with every new project—while simultaneously accumulating more critics. Much like the pink slime in Ghostbusters II, Fennell appears to thrive on this animosity, gaining strength with each Reddit discussion questioning why she is so disliked online.

Addressing the question raised above, the online disdain for Emerald Fennell stems from her prioritization of style over substance; her work is flashy and provocative yet often lacks depth. When there is substance, it tends to be remarkably oblivious, especially regarding race and class dynamics. Ironically, this makes her a seemingly perfect fit to revive the legendary erotic thriller Basic Instinct.

Long before its 1992 debut, Basic Instinct faced backlash from feminist and lesbian organizations who were offended by the depiction of the bisexual antagonist Catherine Trammell, played by Sharon Stone. Critics argued the character embodied the trope of sapphic women as evil, predatory man-haters. “It’s hideous. It’s awful. It’s very anti-bisexual. It’s very anti-lesbian. And it’s misogynistic in general,” a demonstrator informed NPR at the time.

In the years since, queer audiences have reimagined Catherine as a campy antiheroine. Reviving this character for a reboot would demand a level of nuance that Fennell has yet to demonstrate in her filmography. However, if Amazon Studios’ goal is simply to replicate the controversy that engulfed the original film by Paul Verhoeven and Joe Eszterhas, appointing Emerald Fennell would certainly achieve that.

Eszterhas is the primary architect of this revival, receiving $4 million to pen a new version of his script, as reported in a recent Guardian profile of the 81-year-old writer. His vision for this “anti-woke” reboot sounds, to be honest, absurd: the film reportedly “juggles copycat serial killers with elements of the supernatural.” Meanwhile, Stone—who claims she was coerced into the movie’s infamous flashing scene—is not participating in the project. Last summer, she remarked, “I hate to break it to you, but Joe Eszterhas couldn’t write himself out of a Walgreens drug store.”

Eszterhas’s reasoning for selecting Fennell is somewhat more plausible, though arguably misguided: “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,” he explained to The Guardian. Once again, if the intention is to provoke the “woke” demographic with a fresh take on a film featuring a psychotic bisexual ice-pick murderer, hiring Emerald Fennell is a surefire method. But what is the price?