Don't Just Look At It - Read It!

Don’t Just Look At It – Read it!

Cult classic American Psycho is apparently being made into a remake. Lionsgate have given the nod to Noble Jones (a fairly new filmmaker, as his only previous credit is as a second unit director on David Fincher's The Social Network)to pen a remake of the film which was only made in 2000.

The original, based on Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel, follows the story of Patrick Bateman, a wealthy Wall Street banker whose suave, slick exterior hides a deranged, monstrous killer and megalomaniac. The film also offers a pitch-black satire on the yuppie lifestyle in the 1980’s. The remake, however, will be set in modern times and will concentrate more on the gory aspects of the story.

Ellis’s tweeted “have warned Lionsgate that I will not approve a new version of 'American Psycho' unless it stars SCOTT DISICK (Kourtney Kardashian’s boyfriend) or MILES FISHER!” then later tweeted “I am waiting for Scott Disick to ask: 'Who in the hell is is Bret Easton Ellis?” apparently unfazed that Disick has no acting experience what so ever. Ellis must be taking the piss here.  

Why this is a terrible idea: Mary Harron adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho is phenomenal and Christian Bale’s portrayal of Patrick Bateman is fantastic, they couldn’t have found a better actor to suit the role. Harron's movie successfully tones the graphic scenes from the novel, from the sickening violence yet it maintains the satirical edge. You can’t improve on this adaptation; it’s simply impossible.  The remake will be set in modern times rather than the eighties so it instantly loses the satirical edge of the yuppie lifestyle and the Bateman’s musical taste is obviously going to be omitted. They seem to only be making a remake for the sake of making a gory movie rather than having a thriller with any real aesthetic. Although American Psycho did relatively poorly at the box office - making just $15 million at the US Box Office but it it gained a massive cult status worldwide. Lionsgate is clearly only on board with making a remake in order to make a profit. Not to mention that Harron’s adaptation is only eleven years old and there any many other Bret Easton Ellis novels out there that would make great adaptations such as Glamorama or remake Less Than Zero (in fairness, that adaptation was fairly poor). The Rules of Attraction was also a noteworthy film adaptation of the book. Hopefully this plan won’t go into motion and they might concentrate on making another Ellis novel into a movie.