Challengers director Luca Guadagnino has publicly cast doubt on rumours he’s connected to an American Psycho remake.
Normally, when a movie star like Austin Butler gets added to your project, you’d imagine that such a prized acting talent would be the launchpad for all systems to start firing. Unless the project is Heat 2 of course, which Butler is rumoured to be starring in and which is said to be having a few difficulties getting off the ground.
Or American Psycho, it seems, given that since the announcement regarding Butler’s involvement became public, two prominent figures have poured varying degrees of cold water on the story. First up, Brett Easton Ellis, the author of the 1991 novel claimed that the project wasn’t happening and decried it as ‘fake news’.
One person who would definitely know if the project is real or not is the film’s supposed director, Luca Guadagnino. The filmmaker behind Challengers and Queer was announced as the director of a new take on Ellis’ novel in October of last year. We already have one classic take on the story already of course, that being the 2000 film helmed by Mary Harron and starring Christian Bale.
Read more: Queer review | A tequila-soaked tale of obsession
When asked by GQ about the project, Guadagnino – having the chance to publicly quash the speculation – instead elected to fuel it, stating, ‘Any director, in this moment, they are all developing projects. Sometimes you develop with Hollywood, sometimes you have material being handed to you by a studio, by a producer. And I think all of us do make two, three, four, five, six, seven developments…’
While Guadagnino certainly isn’t denying the project’s existence, it doesn’t appear to be a priority for him, either. Or he might be playing some kind of strategy that we aren’t privy to; it could also be the case that he has other projects that he wants to do first, such as Separate Rooms or his Sgt Rock project with Daniel Craig which we heard was set for an autumn release.
Should his American Psycho never come to fruition (and Guadagnino has walked away from a big remake before – Scarface), might we suggest that this is a good thing? New audiences are still discovering Mary Herron’s 2000 take on the novel, and as time passes, appreciation for the film continues to build. Besides, it’s not like Austin Butler is short of work these days.
