Fourteen years. That is how long it took for Catherine Tramell to trade the sun-drenched hills of San Francisco for the grey, phallic-shaped architecture of modern London. Most sequels are born from greed, but Sharon Stone Basic Instinct 2 felt more like a survivor of a long, messy legal war.
If you were around in 2006, you probably remember the noise. The Razzies were sharpening their knives. The critics were ready to pounce. Honestly, the movie was a punchline before it even hit theaters. But behind the scenes, there’s a story of a woman who refused to let a character die, a director who ended up hating his lead actress, and a $100 million lawsuit that basically forced the movie into existence.
It wasn’t just a bad movie. It was a fascinating, expensive disaster.
The $100 Million Lawsuit That Revived Catherine Tramell
You might think movies happen because a studio has a great script. Nope. Not this one. By 2001, MGM was already backing away from the project. They looked at the landscape and decided that the "erotic thriller" was dead.
Sharon Stone didn't agree.
She filed a massive $100 million lawsuit against producers Andrew Vajna and Mario Kassar. Why? Because she claimed she had a "pay-or-play" deal. Basically, if they didn't make the movie, they still owed her $14 million. The lawsuit dragged on for years, a dark cloud over everyone involved.
Eventually, they settled. The terms were simple: they would finally make the movie to stop the legal bleeding. Imagine starting a production where nobody actually wants to be there except for the lead actress who sued you into it. It’s a recipe for chaos.
Directing a Diva: The War Between Stone and Caton-Jones
Michael Caton-Jones is a solid director. He did Rob Roy. He worked with Leonardo DiCaprio in This Boy's Life. But he was not Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven, who directed the first film, knew how to handle Stone's intensity. He thrived on the friction.
Caton-Jones? He just wanted to get through the day.
In interviews years later, Caton-Jones didn't hold back. He called the experience "painful" and "horrible." He and Stone reportedly stopped speaking by the end of the shoot. Stone, for her part, felt the disconnect. She told MovieWeb back in 2006 that Verhoeven trusted her "weird headspace," while Caton-Jones just didn't seem to like her very much when she was in that headspace.
You can feel that tension on screen. The movie feels cold. It's not the "hot" cold of the first film; it’s the "I want to go home" cold of a crew that is over it.
The Mystery of the Missing Michael Douglas
Why wasn't Nick Curran in the sequel? Simple: Michael Douglas said no.
They tried to replace him with everyone. Harrison Ford, Kurt Russell, Bruce Greenwood—they all passed. Robert Downey Jr. was even considered, which would have been an entirely different (and probably better) movie.
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They ended up with David Morrissey.
Morrissey is a great actor (he was incredible as The Governor in The Walking Dead), but in Sharon Stone Basic Instinct 2, he’s playing a wet blanket named Dr. Michael Glass. He doesn't have the sleazy, desperate energy Michael Douglas brought to the role. Stone eats him for breakfast. There’s no cat-and-mouse game when the cat is a tiger and the mouse is a cardboard box.
Why London?
The setting change felt weird. They filmed all over the City of London, using the "Gherkin" building (30 St Mary Axe) as Glass's office. The opening scene—where Stone’s character speeds a car into the Thames while... well, enjoying herself—was shot at Canary Wharf.
It looked expensive. It felt "prestige." But it didn't feel like Basic Instinct.
The Razzie Sweep and the Box Office Bloodbath
When the movie finally dropped in March 2006, it didn't just fail. It cratered.
- Budget: Roughly $70 million.
- Domestic Opening: A measly $3.2 million.
- Total US Gross: About $6 million.
It was out of theaters in 17 days. Sony literally stopped tracking it.
The Razzies went for the jugular. It won Worst Picture, Worst Actress, Worst Prequel or Sequel, and Worst Screenplay. They even nominated Stone's "lopsided breasts" for Worst Screen Couple. It was mean-spirited, sure, but it reflected the general "why does this exist?" vibe of the public.
Is It Actually a "So Bad It's Good" Masterpiece?
Here’s the thing. Roger Ebert, the legendary critic, gave it 1.5 stars but admitted it wasn't boring. He famously wrote that Stone plays the role "badly better than any other actress alive."
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If you watch it today, it’s camp. Pure, unadulterated camp.
Stone is chewing the scenery so hard there’s barely any set left. She knows exactly what kind of movie she’s in. She’s giving 110% in a 10% movie. There are lines of dialogue that feel like they were written by a bot that only watches late-night cable.
"I was scared. I might never come again."
Who says that? Catherine Tramell says that.
Sharon Stone’s Reflection in 2026
Looking back now, Stone has a very different perspective. She’s been vocal about how the industry treated her after her 2001 stroke, which happened right around the time the sequel was supposed to start. She felt like she lost her "place" in Hollywood.
In recent interviews—especially with the news of a possible Joe Eszterhas-penned reboot—she’s been blunt. She told The Guardian in 2025, "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. Good fucking luck."
She doesn't regret the character, but she clearly hasn't forgotten the "painful" experience of the 2006 production. She’s moved on to projects like Nobody 2, but the shadow of the ice pick still follows her.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think Sharon Stone Basic Instinct 2 failed because Stone was "too old." That’s garbage. She looked incredible.
It failed because it lacked a soul. The first movie was a lightning-in-a-bottle moment for 90s sexual politics. By 2006, that world was gone. The internet had made "erotic thrillers" irrelevant. You couldn't shock people with a leg-cross anymore.
The movie tried to be sophisticated and "Lacanian" (yes, Charlotte Rampling actually says that in the film), but it forgot to be a thriller. It forgot to be fun.
How to Revisit the Film (If You Dare)
If you're going to watch it, don't go in expecting a masterpiece. Go in for the spectacle.
- Watch the Unrated Cut: The theatrical version was butchered to avoid an NC-17 rating. The unrated version is the only way to see the "vision" they intended.
- Focus on David Thewlis: He plays a corrupt cop and he is the only person in the movie who seems to be having as much fun as Stone.
- Look at the Architecture: If you like modern London buildings, the cinematography is actually quite beautiful.
- Listen for the Score: They used Jerry Goldsmith’s original themes, and they still rip.
There won't be a Basic Instinct 3. Not with Stone, anyway. She’s "retired" the character, and frankly, she earned the right to put that ice pick away for good. The 2006 sequel remains a bizarre monument to a time when Hollywood thought you could force a hit through a courtroom.
It didn't work. But at least we got that car crash scene.