Sharon Stone's no dummy, but for a long time she did lie about being a member of Mensa International, the society for smart people.

Stone reportedly has an IQ of 153, but -- and to Mensa's apparent relief -- a few years ago she finally admitted she isn't in fact a member.

But who needs brains when you've got money?

She was paid $14 million US to reprise her role as Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct 2 in what was a "pay or play" arrangement, meaning she got paid whether the film was ultimately made or not.

Sounds ingenious to us.

Basic Instinct 2 opens Friday. However, early buzz on the oft-delayed sequel to Stone's breakthrough 1992 film -- in which she co-starred alongside Michael Douglas -- hasn't been good.

Newsweek has said it's on par with Showgirls for sheer awfulness and that Stone's performance is so over the top it turns the movie into a "must-see diva extravaganza."

BI2 has received poor promotion and few press screenings, which is almost always a sign the studio knows it's got a dog on its hands -- the dog being the movie, not Stone, who's still pretty hot at 48.

Should BI2 indeed prove a disaster, it would hardly be the first time this blond bombshell has, well, bombed.

Among the more recent examples was her embarrassing turn in 2004's Catwoman, in which she tangled with Oscar winner Halle Berry. (The closest Stone has come to the golden statuette was winning a Golden Globe for Casino in 1995.) Aside from working with esteemed director Martin Scorsese on Casino, much of Stone's resume from the 1990s plays out like a bunch of Basic Instinct knockoffs, including Sliver, Intersection and Diabolique. Another big payday awaited her in The Specialist (which co-starred Sylvester Stallone), along with more critical lambasting.

Stone couldn't seem to escape being typecast as a sex bomb.

In recent years, and with the onset of middle age, she seems more apt to take creative chances. Last year, she had a guest spot on TV's Will & Grace and she played against type in the Bill Murray-starring Broken Flowers -- admirably, she portrayed a once-hot blonde, who was past her prime.

It seems unlikely Basic Instinct 2 will do much to vindicate Stone's acting ability, but hopefully after landing so much bank she'll be inclined to take smaller roles that don't hinge on her star power. The last thing we need is to see Stone starring in another sequel, although her completing the trilogy to King Solomon's Mines and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold might be pretty cool. Her co-star in those films, Richard Chamberlain, could do with a big-screen comeback himself.

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