The terrible Sharon Stone movie David Cronenberg almost directed: “They got afraid”
There are many alternate versions of films that had the power to change cinematic history, despite being abandoned by studio executives in favour of something more palatable. Whether it be the countless projects of David Lynch and Lynne Ramsay that were discarded, only to fund more money into toxic projects such as The Electric State or another mediocre biopic, the film industry sure does know how to disappoint audiences by taking surefire routes to boring ville.
While there are producers sitting in glass rooms with the power to do something unexpected, they nearly always opt for the safe and predictable option. From the casting of the upcoming Beatles biopic, which is a collection of all the most current actors in Hollywood, to influencers and singers with no acting experience being cast in blockbuster projects and stealing opportunities from those who are professionally trained, producers have eliminated any entry points for emerging talent.
However, another prime example is the terrible Sharon Stone film, which could have been drastically elevated by another director, with the one and only David Cronenberg being considered for one of her projects.
Sharon Stone has had an interesting career trajectory over the years, reaching high levels of fame and notoriety during some periods while experiencing long dry spells throughout others. She rose to acclaim through performances in films like Basic Instinct, Casino and Total Recall, collaborating with provocative auteurs such as Paul Verhoeven and Martin Scorsese. However, while some of these projects reached critical acclaim and became cult classics in their own right, others didn’t make the splash that was intended, with the sequel to Basic Instinct being a prime example of this.
Directed in 2006 by Michael Caton-Jones, the film follows Catherine Tramell as she finds herself in trouble with the law again. Although the first movie was a colossal success, the second did not strike a chord with audiences, something that might have been different had David Cronenberg helmed the project.
When discussing the film and Cronenberg’s potential involvement, Stone said, “You know, we love him, of course. He’s so talented and so amazing, and how great was Crash? Oh my god. He is the most gentile, interesting, intelligent, sophisticated person and one of my most things—it’s a little private thing but I’ll share it with you—Marty Scorsese wanted to see Crash so I made a surprise dinner party for him and invited David Cronenberg over to the house and screened the movie. Oh, what a fun night!”
Adding, “You know, that was a biggie. He had really great ideas, but that would have been a very different kind of movie. I think that in the end, people just got kind of afraid that maybe it wouldn’t be so commercial, because, not to say that some of his ideas didn’t remain in the movie because they did, but what’s funny enough is that some of his ideas that they were the most afraid of remained in the movie. I don’t think it’d be fair to say, because I don’t think I have that permission, but I think they just got afraid, ‘cause he’s so inventive, and I think they just got afraid that his ideas weren’t going to be mainstream.”
Understandably, Cronenberg was too much of a risk for such a safe studio, and the director’s daring ideas scared off the investors and those who were looking to make a surefire profit off the back of the first film. However, it is fun to imagine what tricks the director might have had up his sleeve and how it could have been improved in his hands.
