Posted in: Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: american psycho, lionsgate, Luca Guadagnino
American Psycho Remake Coming From Luca Guadagnino At Lionsgate
Lionsgate is moving ahead with a remake of American Psycho, directed by Luca Guadagnino. Who will play Patrick?
Article Summary
- Lionsgate remakes American Psycho with Luca Guadagnino as director, promising a fresh take on a modern classic.
- Christian Bale's iconic role awaits recasting; anticipation and skepticism arise over new Patrick Bateman.
- Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns teams up with Guadagnino to interpret Brett Easton Ellis's dark, gripping novel.
- Amid box office struggles, Lionsgate aims to revitalize this beloved IP with a bold creative direction.
American Psycho is a modern horror classic to most, featuring a career-making performance from Christian Bale as slasher Patrick Bateman. Lionsgate, hurting after a disastrous 2024 at the box office, is looking to exploit their possible franchises and today announced that they are in final negotiations to bring Bateman back to the big screen. Is that a good idea? Probably not, but they hired the one name that could make it either on par or surpass the original. Directing the film will be Luca Guadagnino, and dammit if that is not a perfect marriage of filmmaker and subject. Scott Z. Burns will be writing the script based on the novel by Brett Easton Ellis.
American Psycho Isn't Untouchable, But It Is Close
"We are thrilled to add another elite filmmaker to our upcoming slate," said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson. "Luca is a brilliant artist, and the perfect visionary to create a whole new interpretation of this potent and classic IP." It makes me cringe that he referred to this as IP at the end there.
He is right, though; Luca is an elite filmmaker. Already this year, he released Challengers in the spring, and it remains my favorite film of 2024 so far. He will release his next film, Queer, starring Daniel Craig, on November 27th, and both are expected to be players at awards time, like pretty much everything he touches. If there was one name I would close my eyes and hope was attached to a remake of this film, his would be it.
But was this necessary? It is not like Lionsgate doesn't make a ton of cash off this film in licensing deals every year already; if anything, they don't exploit it enough in that regard. I think it should be left alone, but with Luca doing it, I am torn. American Psycho is not a great film; it was elevated by Bale's performance. Would that change with someone else in the role? I guess we are going to find out.