Fatal Femmes

On screen, Sharon Stone tries to get away with murder. Off screen, the stakes may be even higher. The industry will be watching the grosses of Diabolique, a remake of the 1955 French classic, to see if Stone is worth her per-picture price tag, which is expected to rise given her much-heralded turn in Casino (until now, she's been starving on a $7 million fee). In Diabolique, she plays a schoolteacher who conspires against her brutish lover (Chazz Palminteri) — aided by his wife (Isabelle Adjani). ''Our movie is a thriller,'' says Stone, ''but it's also black comedy. Drowning Chazz was pretty funny. He's like 6'4'', and we dragged him all over. He's been smacked, mashed, dropped, crushed, and crumbled.'' Which was nothing compared with the violence that nearly ensued when Morgan Creek moneyman James Robinson reportedly ordered Stone to do a nude scene. She refused, threw him out of her trailer, and quashed the idea of using a body double. But Stone promises Diabolique won't lack sex appeal. ''The wardrobe is skintight,'' she says. ''I have huge boobs. I used gel packs. I wanted her to be particularly va-va-va-voomish.''