New Patrick Bateman. What do you think? Oho. Very cool. Let’s see Austin Butler‘s Patrick Bateman. Look at that subtle, off-Memphis Elvis Presley accent. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has an Oscar nomination. Yes, that’s right, the Oscar nominated star of Baz Luhrmann‘s has been tapped to star as the iconic serial killer in acclaimed director Luca Guadanigno‘s new take on the iconic Bret Easton Ellis novel, American Psycho. Butler beat Jacob Elordi to the role, according to Variety, who reported the news, and it’s funny because both of them played Elvis Presley recently. However, their views on Huey Lewis and the News are not yet known.
The film, which will be scripted by Scott Z. Burns (The Laundromat), isn’t going to be a remake of the memed-to-death Christian Bale classic, but rather a new version of the novel. Bale starred as Patrick Bateman, an entitled, spoiled yuppie working on Wall Street who became a serial killer out of boredom, and despite his best efforts, was still utterly invisible to everyone around him. The novel is full of eroticism and Guadanigno is no stranger to the sensual following his work in Call Me By Your Name, Challengers and Queer, so we could see a bit more of Bateman’s dirtier sides, presumably after a lovely dining experience at Dorsia.
Is the First ‘American Psycho’ Worth Seeing?
It’s a cult classic. It begs to be seen. Bale‘s performance is absolutely magnetic, and so many of the lines from the film, particularly the infamous business card scene, have become staples of popular culture. Collider reviewed the movie 25 years on, and hailed the direction of Mary Herron, who fought hard to cast Bale.
Mary Harron directs the piece with a sharp and very particular view to framing it all as quite ludicrous. It’s not unlike Fight Club or The Wolf of Wall Street , in that it presents a very damaging form of masculinity and, through clever writing and direction, urges the viewer to see it as dysfunctional, delusional, and really quite pathetic. Bale can say a thousand words with a simple gesture, and never once holds himself back from what could be embarrassing or uncomfortable to a less skilled or confident actor. He puts himself up there with the likes of Jack Nicholson and Anthony Hopkins , whose most powerful weapon when playing madmen is their unpredictability .
American Psycho is streaming on Netflix in the U.S.
via Collider