American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis has said several actors have turned down the role of murderous banker Patrick Bateman in an upcoming adaptation.
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Back in 2024, it was announced that Challengers director Luca Guadagnino was attached to film a new adaptation, which is said to draw more from Ellis’s controversial 1991 satirical novel than the original film directed by Mary Harron.
That version, which turned 25 last year, saw Christian Bale give a career-defining performance as an investment banker in the ‘80s who works to hide his psychopathic behaviour from those around him.
Speaking on his podcast recently, Ellis gave an update on the casting process for the novel’s upcoming adaptation. “A couple of high-profile actors, whom I can’t name, have turned it down,” he said, per Variety.
“I think maybe because they don’t want to be in the shoes of Christian Bale.”
Ellis also added that the reimagined American Psycho has gotten a completely new script, written by Scott Z. Burns, since the project was first announced in 2024, and after several unnamed actors passed it over.
“From what I’m told, this movie is completely different from Mary Harron’s 2000 movie. It’s a completely different take, and going to bear no resemblance to that movie,” Ellis noted.
Previously rumoured to be up for the part of Bateman were actors including Elvis star Austin Butler and Wuthering Heights lead Jacob Elordi, whose potential turns as Bateman fans have already started to weigh up against Bale’s.
Ever since he stepped into the role of Bateman, his menacing take on the character has become a permanent pop culture fixture, spawning countless Halloween costumes and commentary.
Last year, Harron said she was “mystified” that the film was being consistently misinterpreted by Donald Trump supporters and certain sects of the internet who seem to think Bateman is someone to aspire to, citing his ruthless and predatory nature as a positive.
Speaking to Letterboxd Journal, Harron discussed the phenomenon and argued that it is a direct contradiction of what was intended, both by her and Ellis. “It was very clear to me and (writer) Guinevere (Turner), who is gay, that we saw it as a gay man’s satire on masculinity,” she said.
“(Ellis) being gay allowed him to see the homoerotic rituals among these alpha males, which is also true in sports, and it’s true in Wall Street, and all these things where men are prizing their extreme competition and their ‘elevating their prowess’ kind of thing. There’s something very, very gay about the way they’re fetishizing looks, and the gym”.
As for Bale, he is next set to star as Frankenstein’s Monster alongside Jessie Buckley in director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming movie The Bride. You can find first look images here.
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