I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned The Specialist. It is a cursed abomination of a fillum, and just mentioning its name is enough to have appalling repercussions. I didn’t have a camera on me at the time, so you’ll have to take my word for it: a small convoy of film crew vans idling in Brewer Street, Soho. On the dashboard visible through the windscreen, along with the usual permits and empty Mars wrappers, was the large identifying sign “BASIC INSTINCT 2“.
And yes, Sharon Stone is in it; although she turned it down at first. However, as the production has stumbled on from one director to another, year after year, without anything getting done, she has had time to star in Catwoman, Beautiful Joe, Gloria, and The Muse, and subsequently reconsider her dwindling options.
No-one else from the original appears to be in the sequel, not even Jeanne Tripplehorn. It’s supposed to be set in London, in case you were wondering: everyone works cheaper here and they won’t have to spend money disguising the locations.
Heh. How amusing.
Last time I was in London I encountered a film crew outside Sir John Soanes museum. I too snooped at the dashboard permit and saw they were filming 'Closer' which I knew had Jude, Julia, Natalie etc. in it.
I spent a while skulking around hoping someone exciting would emerge. Eventutally the crew guys started looking at me funny and I got cold. I took a lame photo of the trucks and trudged home.
Not exactly a classic anecdote.
Well, at least it's better than hanging around Bacchus Marsh hoping to catch a glimpse of Nic Cage.