Released in 2000, the cult film is preparing to return to the big screen. This return will not take the form of a remakebut a modern interpretation of the novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
One of the most cult films in cinema, American Psychodriven by the unforgettable performance of Christian Bale, is preparing to return to the big screen, this time with Austin Butler in the role of Patrick Bateman. This new adaptation, signed Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Challengers), promises a modern rereading of the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. According to Varietythis project will not be a simple remake from the film directed by Mary Harron in 2000, but an original reinterpretation of the literary work.
A cult film
This will be a new flagship role for Austin Butler, who shone in Elvis by Baz Luhrmann, playing the king of rock’n’roll with an intensity that earned him the Golden Globe and the Bafta for best actor in 2023. For his part, Luca Guadagnino has established himself as an essential figure in cinema mixing artistic demand and popularity. After the success of Call Me By Your Name in 2017, he marked the year 2024 with Challengersworn by Zendaya, who received several nominations for the 2025 Golden Globes.
Published in 1991, the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, American Pyscho caused an uproar upon its release due to its crude depictions of violence and sexuality. Despite the controversy, this work has established itself as a best-seller in the United States and internationally, becoming a reference work. American Psycho explores the daily life of Patrick Bateman, a New York trader at the top of Manhattan’s elite. Behind a facade of luxury, social parties and drugs, Bateman hides a dark secret: he is a ruthless serial killer, indiscriminately attacking homeless people, prostitutes or simple passers-by, with cold violence. and methodical.
If the first film, released in 2000, received a mixed reception upon its release, it has since acquired the status of a cult work. However, the character of Patrick Bateman has sometimes been misinterpreted, notably by masculinist circles who have used him as a symbol of “sigma male”a notion popularized by white supremacist writer Theodore Robert Beale.