Sharon Stone’s Nakedness Loses Box Office Punch

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Tuesday, April 4, 2006

The number of men who will pay $9 to sit in a public theater to watch Sharon Stone get naked is apparently on the decline, according to Hollywood Reporter.

The last time “Basic Instinct” man-eater Catherine Tramell prowled the big screen, the studio erotic thriller was hitting box office heights. The first “Instinct” took the top spot when it debuted in 1992, with an opening weekend of $15.1 million, the equivalent of $20.45 million in today’s dollars. By comparison, “Basic Instinct 2″ limped into 10th place upon its arrival this weekend, grossing just $3.2 million.

In the years between the two films, a string of high-profile flops, including MGM’s “Body of Evidence,” United Artists’ “Showgirls” and Paramount Pictures’ “Jade,” have all contributed to the cooling off of the erotic thriller, a genre that had once sizzled at the box office.

Paul Verhoeven, director of the first “Basic Instinct” (which scored $353 million worldwide) as well as the widely ridiculed “Showgirls” (now regarded as something of a camp classic), attributes the genre’s demise to the current American political climate. “Anything that is erotic has been banned in the United States,” said the Dutch native. “Look at the people at the top (of the government). We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out Christian values. And Christianity and sex have never been good friends.”

Except that, as readers of sites such as this one can attest, the ability to see celebrity hotties without their clothes on has never been greater.

For producer JC Spink, the genre’s demise has little to do with politics, scripts or willing talent and everything to do with the Internet, which became ubiquitous in American homes around the same time studio executives were suffering through such debacles as “Body of Evidence,” “Showgirls” and “Jade.” “Why pay $10 to see something at the movies that you can see for free on the Internet?” Spink asked. “I think the genre is suffering because sex is more pervasive in our society now than it was 10 years ago, from Vanity Fair ads to reality TV. I mean, there’s porn stars on reality TV.”

Exactly right. And, while I’m old enough that Sharon Stone still looks hot, the woman is 48 years old. That’s older than the mothers of most guys looking to see naked celebrities.

Sharon Stone’s Nakedness Loses Box Office Punch

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