Stone blamed her sagging career on being typecast as a sexpot, but now she's defending her most famous work. "I think my performance has held up," she told Harper's Bazaar last summer. "That scene doesn't have impact because a woman uncrosses her legs, but because I'm good in it."

Indeed, "Basic Instinct" has endured as a landmark in popular cinema. Stone's sex scenes with Douglas were so elaborate and choreographed that they were once dubbed "the horizontal Fred and Ginger of the '90s."

It was always assumed that a sequel was inevitable, but the project hit numerous snags. First, the studio that produced the film, Carolco, went into bankruptcy. MGM bought the rights, and producers considered making a sequel on the cheap, without Stone.

When Carolco re-emerged from bankruptcy as C2 Pictures, Stone was back on board, but she was soon locked in a lawsuit, claiming studio heads reneged on a verbal guarantee of $14 million plus a stake in the profits.

The case languished until 2004, and then Stone was reportedly clashing over who should be cast to replace Douglas (Stone reportedly nixed Benjamin Bratt) and how the plot should unfold.

Now, David Morrissey co-stars, and in the new film, he's a psychiatrist hired by Britain's Scotland Yard to evaluate Stone's Tramell, who is once again implicated in a string of sex-and-dagger games.

Stone actually expressed disappointment that some of her spicier scenes had to be removed. "It's pretty easy for me to be naked," she says. "I'm a person who feels that if it's appropriate for the character I'm playing or the mood of the piece, then it's no big thing."

And as she looks to revive her career, Stone is crossing not just her legs, but her fingers.