Although Sharon Stone signed on in June to star in Basic Instinct II (Michael Douglas did not), Paul Verhoeven says he's still weighing whether to accept an offer to direct the sequel.

Denying published reports that he has already turned down an offer, Verhoeven said at the Edinburgh Film Festival Tuesday that he had read the screenplay by Henry Bean (Internal Affairs) and was unimpressed. "It's not a bad script," he said. "It's just that, how can you bring it to a level where people will be amazed again?"

Similarly, Verhoeven said that he was concerned whether he could equal or top the original. As reported by the online edition of Britain's Empire magazine, Verhoeven added, "If it's really derivative and you think that nothing new has been added and it's just trying to cash in, then of course you are in trouble. And I want to be sure before I say yes to a project like this that I'm not doing it because people want to cash in."

Stone reportedly will receive $15 million to star in the sequel.

Source: Studio Briefing