Austin Butler to star as Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho' remake
The new American Psycho film has found its Patrick Bateman.
Luca Guadagnino’s interpretation of Bret Easton Ellis’s controversial novel will star Austin Butler as troubled investment banker Bateman.
The role comes hot on the heels of a string of blockbusters for Butler. The star was critically acclaimed for playing Elvis in Baz Luhrrman’s biopic, which saw him land several award nominations and win a Bafta for the part. He also led 2023 crime drama The Bikeriders, and showed his versatility when he played Feyd-Rautha in science-fiction epic Dune: Part Two.
Butler’s casting may have come as a surprise for some, after Jacob Elordi was previously touted for the role. The Australian actor has instead been cast as Heathcliff in in Emerald Fennell's upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Guadagnino has teamed up with the script writer Scott Z. Burns, whose credits include The Laundromat, for the new version of American Psycho.
Guadagnino, whose credits include the cult hit Challengers and new movie Queer, is thought to have reinterpreted Ellis’s original work, with his take on American Psycho likely to look significantly different to the 2000 version directed by Mary Harron.
In the first film adaptation, Christian Bale stars as Patrick Bateman, with the film leaning into the novel’s black comedy and satire as well as horror,
Speaking to The Guardian about his novel, which was published in 1991, Ellis said: “In many ways Patrick Bateman was me: his rage, his disgust and to a degree his passivity stem from what I was feeling at the time. And boredom. The novel is really about my loneliness, my alienation.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
“I don't think it would be as widely read if the point or the message of the book was specifically an attack on yuppie culture. I think there's a larger feeling that people respond to in the book. I don't know what that is, but it is obviously something.”
American Psycho is yet to start filming. More casting announcements and a release date is expected in due course.
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