Director Luca Guadagnino says that his potential new take on American Psycho now has a fresh screenwriter on board. More here.
Luca Guadagnino is another of those filmmakers who seems have a constantly evolving slate of projects on the go. There’s his forthcoming take on grizzled WWII hero Sgt Rock, while others fall by the wayside: his Audrey Hepburn biopic and planned remake of Scarface being two that spring to mind.
One Guadagnino project that seemed like it might fall onto the filmmaker’s ‘rejected’ pile is a proposed adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis’ serial killer novel, American Psycho. The film already has one excellent cinematic interpretation – Mary Harron’s 2000 film, which starred Christian Bale as the title character. It prompts the question that often springs to mind when it comes to remakes: do we really need another? Especially when Harron’s film continues to find a new audience even 20 years later.
When Guadagnino last spoke about the project at the beginning of this year, he appeared to ever so slightly distance himself from it, saying: “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…”
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That’s certainly not the usual gushing excitement that a filmmaker expresses for a movie they can’t wait to make, and given how volatile Guadagnino’s slate can be, it cast doubt on a project which at one point had reportedly cast Austin Butler in the role of Patrick Bateman.
It might be all change again, however. Guadagnino has been chatting about the project again with Konbini (via World of Reel) and this time, he seems a little more optimistic about the film getting made, stating: “I met this great screenwriter, whom I always loved, called Scott Z Burns, who wrote Contagion, who has directed himself – great writer and so so smart. He’s now writing it, so we’ll see.”
Things seem to be early in the development cycle, then, and Guadagnino seemed reluctant to add too much more, although he would reveal that he has recently seen Harron’s take on the book.
Will this one happen? Perhaps, although the filmmaker has several projects all vying for his attention. He has his adaptation of Lord Of The Flies, for one, and while Sgt. Rock is thought to be his next project, its star Daniel Craig has reportedly walked away from the production.
We’ll bring you more on Luca Guadanino and his planned take on American Psycho as we hear it.
