What to Know About the 'American Psycho' Reboot
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Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman holding an ax and laughing in "American Psycho"
An American Psycho remake may be happening.
According to The Insneider, Lionsgate is looking for a team to write a script for 2020s-era American Psycho reboot.
While the original film adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel, starring an inimitable Christian Bale (with stellar appearances from Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, Chloë Sevigny, Justin Theroux, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas and more) is pretty much a perfect version, the world has changed enough since its release in April 2000 to potentially warrant some updates in a new version.
Still, the 2000 American Psycho film—written by director Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner—nailed toxic masculinity in a way that wasn't touched upon nearly as effectively much at the time or since.
"I think the movie is better now than it was 20 years ago—not only in being a time capsule, but also in being an indie movie that could be done on that scale, and be that daring, and push buttons, and examine misogyny and toxic masculinity, but in a non-earnest way," Ellis told Vice for the movie's 20th anniversary. "Like, this is a horror film, and it's going to be poker-faced, and we're not going to explain anything to you or hold your hand. That neutrality that Mary brought to it is why it's aged so well."
Find out everything to know about the potential American Psycho reboot.
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Is there going to be an American Psycho remake?
It's looking like it.
The Insneider reported in February that Lionsgate is on the hunt for a writer to pen a modern-day reboot of American Psycho.
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When is the American Psycho remake release date?
If it happens, it won't be for a while. The project is basically still in its pre-pre-pre-development stages.
Who is in the American Psycho remake cast?
FX
While no cast has been announced for the still-hypothetical American Psycho reboot, most of the fan-casting so far as been for Glenn Howerton to be the new Patrick Bateman—and with good reason.
Howerton is most famous for starring as Dennis Reynolds—who supports "The Implication" that he's a psychopathic, sadistic serial killer—in the long-running, often-darkly hilarious It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Howerton, a Juilliard-trained actor, has stretched his dramatic muscles in critically acclaimed projects like BlackBerry, so he certainly has the chops to take on the title killer in American Psycho if it comes to pass.
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Why is Gen Z obsessed with American Psycho?
Oh, please. This is so easy: The combination of mental health, capitalism and skincare discourse pretty much makes American Psycho required viewing for Gen Z.
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Are there two versions of American Psycho?
Two versions of American Psycho were released in the United States. The R-rated version originally seen in theaters and edited for TV removes about 18 seconds of footage of Patrick Bateman having a threesome with two prostitutes. The unrated version, which can be viewed on home video, includes the extended threesome scene.
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Is American Psycho a reboot?
The 2000 American Psycho movie wasn't a reboot, but any version moving forward will be.
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Will there ever be a sequel to American Psycho?
Spoiler alert: There already was. American Psycho 2 (also known as American Psycho II: All American Girl) starred Mila Kunis and William Shatner and ... wasn't very good.
The film was released direct to video and started as a standalone movie in pre-production. Once production was underway, the story was changed to loosely tie into the events of American Psycho (2000). Ellis denounced the film, as did Kunis after its release.
"Please—somebody stop this," Kunis previously told MTV News. "Write a petition. When I did the second one, I didn't know it would be American Psycho II. It was supposed to be a different project, and it was re-edited, but, ooh ... I don't know. Bad."
(If you want to see Kunis with the same vibes as her American Psycho II character without having to sit through an entire feature film, this may do the trick.)
