A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : PRETTY BASIC : Sex, Violence or Douglas? Well, Nobody Left a Stone Unturned

The conventional wisdom after “Basic Instinct’s” $15-million opening weekend was that the attention generated by gay protesters pumped up the box office--the any-publicity-is-good-publicity theory.

Forget it. A sampling of rival studio executives say the movie’s steamy trailers and commercials featuring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone in racy scenes from the racier movie were the key factor.

“The thing that helped ‘Basic Instinct’ more than anything else was that the studio let people know that they were going to see sex like they haven’t seen on screen in a long time,” says one marketing executive. “The studio did its best to make the public think they were going to see one hell of a steamy thriller and that pulled people into the theaters quicker than anything else. I think the rest of it was almost entirely irrelevant.”

“I don’t think (the protests) meant anything,” said one marketing chief. “It may mean something in San Francisco or Los Angeles and it may mean something to an industry that is easily spooked, but across the country, it doesn’t matter. They don’t know from gay coalitions.”’

Most of the executives agreed that TriStar was smart to let moviegoers know several months ago that the MPAA’s Classification and Rating Board threatened to give the film an NC-17 rating unless it was trimmed. (It was, and received an R rating.) “It really took off when the rating situation was kicked up,” says one executive. “The media fanned the flames, which to begin with was a very modest flame.”

But another executive doesn’t think sex was the only thing that sold the movie. “A lot of it had to do with the star power of Michael Douglas,” she says. “The fact that he’s in this has given the film a rubber stamp of authenticity that might not have happened from another actor.”

And still another executive agrees with her assessment: “There have been other examples of explicit sex, whether it’s ‘Body Heat’ or ‘9 1/2 Weeks,’ that haven’t amounted to very much. Explicit sex scenes are not that good at promoting a film. Michael Douglas guaranteed a good show.”

Another cited Douglas’ co-star. “Sharon Stone did a spectacular job of going on the talk shows and seeming like the steamy vixen. I haven’t see anybody do it that well in a long time,” said a marketing executive.

Regarding the furor that gay organizations tried to ignite, all of the executives agreed that it turned out to be inconsequential.

“I think most of America, frankly, and it’s a tragic sign, doesn’t care that much whether the movie is homophobic or not,” said one. He also felt that the groups were hurt by the fact that despite their threats, not much in the way of protests materialized. “It turned out to be a lot of cheap talk with no mobilized effort. Had they been more organized, something might have happened.”

Will sex sell “Basic Instinct” in its second weekend? Stay tuned.