Joe Eszterhas Says Sex Doesn't Sell Scripts

Posted on March 13, 2007

Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who is known for penning such films as Flashdance, Basic Instinct and Showgirls, now says that sex doesn't sell. Yes, you heard that correctly. The man who brought us the trials and tribulations of Nomi the showgirl now says in his new book that lurid screenplays aren't all their cracked up to be and won't get your script made into a movie.

He says, "Don't write a script with a lot of sex. (Showgirls had a lot of sex and) was the greatest commercial and cinematic disaster since Heaven's Gate and Ishtar."

We remember seeing Showgirls in the theater. It was so awful, we really wanted to walk out. For some strange reason, we felt compelled to stay to the bitter end. We still feel scarred by the experience. Eszterhas' most recent book is entitled, The Devil's Guide to Hollywood: The Screenwriter as God and is available at Amazon.com.