For over a decade, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas molded sex and blood the way Shakespeare molded love and tragedy. Well, maybe not. But an Eszterhas film is a fun film, more times than not (Jade, really Joe?). He breathed life into the sexual thriller sub-genre, thanks to snap-crackel-pop hits like Flashdance, Jagged Edge and Basic Instinct.
In the mid-90s, writers like Eszterhas and Shane Black were selling script pitches for millions of dollars. Their movies, on the other hand, had lost considerable box office steam. Basic Instinct and Lethal Weapon were replaced with flops like Showgirls and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Soon, screenwriters were put back in their place by the studios, a place they still, to this day, firmly sit. In response to the Hollywood system, Eszterhas made the bridge-burning Burn, Hollywood, Burn: An Alan Smithee Film and disappeared from the business.
Until now. The man’s back, and back strong, with a screenplay called Lust, which Scott Steindorff (the leggy The Lincoln Lawyer) producing independently for around $30 million. The pair hopes to partially cast and find a director for the project to properly sell it at Cannes this year. [THR]
Eszterhas’ script tells the story of a 30-year old woman living in Miami happily married to a fashion magazine publisher, who’s then seduced by a L.A.-based younger suitor. The suitor has an assistant who’s in love with him. Secret sex videotapes/blackmail ensue.
This sounds a lot like the Eszterhas of old, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Tight, plot-driven thrillers featuring snap dialogue is more-or-less non-existent these days. Actual nudity is right there too. Snap dialogue most of all. Eszterhas’ films are the kind of genre films great actors love to have fun with.
Do you know Eszterhas? Have you missed his voice in the movies?