15 Laziest Movie Sequels Of All Time
13. Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
Paul Verhoeven's Basic Instinct entered the public consciousness when it was released in 1992, becoming famous for that leg-crossing scene and grossing over $350m at the box office. After over a decade in development hell, the sequel arrived looking to emulate that success. Unfortunately, it was essentially a redo of the original except nowhere near as entertaining.
Switching the action to London and replacing Michael Douglas' cop with David Morrissey's psychiatrist, the story follows the template of the original almost to a tee as the man dealing with Sharon Stone's Catherine Tramell becomes increasingly drawn into her web - to the detriment of his personal life and career. However, whereas Verhoeven's visual flair elevated the ridiculousness of the original, the sequel is just plain awful.
Basic Instinct 2 flopped hard, earning less than $40m against a $70m budget. Wisely, Michael Douglas opted not to return for the long-gestating follow-up, saying that the premise "had been done perfectly effectively" in the original. He was right, as this retread of the concept was sees Stone almost descend into self-parody amongst the clichéd and predictable story.