Showgirls, Jade, and the fall of Joe Eszterhas. (Erotic 90’s, Part 14)

Joe Eszterhas’s tenure as the hottest screenwriter in town ended with two notorious 1995 flops: the NC-17 rated Showgirls (directed, like Basic Instinct, by Paul Verhoeven) and Jade (produced, like Sliver, by Robert Evans), We’ll analyze why these films failed to connect with audiences in 1995, and, more importantly, why the media at the time seized on them as major embarrassments for the industry. 

(00:00) Joe Eszterhas Ascendant 

(08:51) Robert Evans, Sherry Lansing, and William Friedkin

(22:12) Jade Bombs

(26:29) Reuniting with Paul Verhoeven and Writing the Script

(34:12) Showgirls as a Revenge Film

(47:53) When the Fun Disappears

(55:51) Can Hollywood Make an NC-17 Blockbuster?

(01:04:55) Selling Showgirls

(01:13:01) Eszterhas Turns On Verhoeven and Showgirls

(01:23:34) Showgirls Sends the Industry into “A Collective Cringe”