Emerald Fennell denies involvement in Basic Instinct reboot

Emerald Fennell has denied that she's making a reboot of Basic Instinct.

Representatives for the Wuthering Heights filmmaker have shut down claims that she is in negotiations to direct a reboot of the 1992 erotic thriller, which starred Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas.

Her representative told Deadline, "(There is) no truth in this. She is not involved in any way."

In addition, a spokesperson for the studio Amazon MGM called the rumours "categorically false".

Basic Instinct screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who is attached to write the reboot, made the claim about the Saltburn director's involvement in a recent interview with The Guardian.

"The producers are negotiating with a really interesting director - a Brit, Emerald Fennell - who did Promising Young Woman and Wuthering Heights," Eszterhas said. "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."

Eszterhas, who is also known for writing films such as Flashdance and Showgirls, signed a deal with Amazon last summer to write a reboot of his thriller.

The original film, directed by Paul Verhoeven, followed a detective who begins an intense relationship with a prime suspect while investigating the murder of a rock star.

Stone reprised her role as murderous novelist Catherine Trammell for a 2006 sequel, but it was critically panned and underperformed at the box office. Douglas, Verhoeven and Eszterhas were not involved.

The actress made it clear last year that she has no intention of returning for the reboot.

"There's not going to be a Basic Instinct reboot. I hate to break it to you, but Joe Eszterhas couldn't write himself out of a Walgreens drug store," she quipped during an interview with The Guardian.