United Kingdom, July 6 -- Joe Eszterhas has revealed he was paid $1.5 million to have "nothing to do" with the 2006 sequel to Basic Instinct.

Describing the follow-up to his controversial thriller as a "really bad" film that abandoned the qualities which made the original a global hit, Joe, 81, made the comments while discussing his return to the franchise through an upcoming reboot, more than three decades after the erotic thriller starring Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas became one of Hollywood's defining films of the 1990s.

The screenwriter reflected on the franchise during a chat with Interview magazine as work continues on a new Basic Instinct film being developed by Scott Stuber's United Artists banner and Amazon MGM Studios.

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