Austin Butler Is The New Patrick Bateman in Guadagnino’s "AMERICAN PSYCHO" Remake
Focus Features
It’s time to break out your Huey Lewis & The News CDs because a brand new remake of “AMERICAN PSYCHO” is in the works and today we have news that Austin Butler (“Dune,” “Elvis”) has been cast as the films psycho, Patrick Bateman. Check out the details below.
Director Luca Guadagnino (“Suspiria”) is set to be behind the camera for this new take on “American Psycho” and Variety has the scoop that Austin Butler has been locked in as the new lead for the film for Lionsgate.
The word “remake” is often used to describe films that are redone by Hollywood studios. This new take on the novel “American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis is not a remake as Variety has revealed today "but a new adaptation of Ellis’ novel.”
This small additional note by Variety has us eager to see where the film will go in tone and story. The 2000 film starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in a performance beloved by the horror community for its visceral and mesmerizing nature. Yet this performance was a bit flawed compared to the novel. The 1991 novel “American Psycho” is a different beast from the film as the mental issues Bateman faces become more abrupt and harsh in the novel. There is also mention of more than 50 victims of Bateman’s before the novel’s conclusion which was not in the 2000 film. This is only one small area where the two differ but any adaptation of a book comes with liberties and omissions since a true adaptation of any novel would be much longer than a typical 2-hour film.
Will the new film dive into the extreme homophobia that Patrick Bateman feels in the novel? Or will the new film show the time in the novel when Patrick Bateman slices a little boy’s throat at the zoo? Austin Butler can play a very intense character as we saw him in “Dune” and even in “Elvis” but Patrick Bateman is a completely different and challenging role.
One thing is for certain if this new take on American Psycho is to outdo the 2000 film, it will be bloodier, more violent, and way more graphic. We highly recommend you get a copy of the original novel and see where the two differ.
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