After rumours suggested Margot Robbie could star as a female Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino’s American Psycho, it has been reported the film will not be gender-swapped.
Luca Guadagnino’s American Psycho won’t be gender-swapped.
Last week, it was claimed that the Queer director’s reimagining of Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 thriller novel would feature a female version of Patrick Bateman, but Deadline has now reported this is not the case.
Rumours had suggested Margot Robbie was linked to the leading role, but the outlet emphasised that was a “non-starter”.
Deadline added Guadagnino was still yet to find his Bateman, with Austin Butler and Jacob Elordi previously said to be in the running for the role.
American Psycho follows Patrick Bateman, a wealthy Manhattan investment banker who hides his psychopathic violence and murderous impulses behind a facade of charm and material success.
As his obsession with status and control deepens, his grip on reality unravels, exposing the emptiness and brutality of 1980s consumer culture.
Guadagnino’s American Psycho has been adapted by writer Scott Z. Burns, with the After the Hunt filmmaker previously teasing script was “coming out very handsomely”.
Appearing in a video segment at CinemaCon, the director said: “We are really working hard to bring to the screen a new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, a book that I deeply love that is something that influenced me so much.
“[Scott Z. Burns] is doing an incredible job. The script is coming out very handsomely.”
Although Guadagnino didn’t reveal any of the cast for his American Psycho movie, the director teased he was currently in “conversation with very exciting performers to play the leads”.
Guadagnino’s American Psycho will be the second movie version of Ellis’ book, with the author’s work first being adapted in the eponymous 2000 film.
The first American Psycho movie starred Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, Jared Leto as Paul Allen, Willem Dafoe as Detective Donald Kimball, Chloe Sevigny as Jean, Reese Witherspoon as Evelyn Williams and Matt Ross as Luis Carruthers.
The upcoming movie will not be a direct remake of the 2000 version, with Guadagnino’s adaptation set to offer a fresh take on the story and place greater emphasis on its erotic themes.
Lionsgate film chief Adam Fogelson has praised Guadagnino as the “perfect visionary” to lead the new iteration of American Psycho.
He said in a statement: “We are thrilled to add another elite filmmaker to our upcoming slate. Luca is a brilliant artist, and the perfect visionary to create a whole new interpretation of this potent and classic IP.”
After the new American Psycho movie was announced, Matt Ross admitted Guadagnino had his “work cut out” to match the quality of the first film.
He told The Hollywood Reporter: “On one hand, I am always sad about remakes.
“I personally have been offered them in the past as a director, and I’ve been very reticent to engage in that because it always feels like just mercenary capitalism and nothing else.”
Ross added the new movie felt “like a business venture more than anything else”, but stressed Guadagnino was a “wonderful filmmaker” and was interested to see what the Challengers director could do with American Psycho.
He said: “I think they have their work cut out for them, for no other reason than Christian’s performance is exceptional.”
Luca Guadagnino’s American Psycho ‘will not be gender-swapped’
