Following reports that Luca Guadagnino was in negotiations to direct a new adaptation of American Psycho, the novelist's author is dismissing the claim.
Bret Easton Ellis first had his 1991 novel adapted for film in 2000, directed by Mary Harron and starring Christian Bale as investment banker-turned-serial killer Patrick Bateman.
Now, he's said rumblings of a new film from Guadagnino are "fake news" via his self-titled Bret Easton Ellis Podcast.
"I heard somewhere, from someone, that there are no contracts," Ellis claimed. "Austin Butler hasn't signed anything to play Patrick Bateman. Luca doesn't have a deal. Scott Burns, who is supposed to write the screenplay, doesn't have a deal either. From various sources that I have, this is just fake news that was put out there to see how an audience is going to react."
Ellis added, "If it does exist, I am not involved. I have nothing to do with this. I might get some money if they do this, but I am not involved creatively on any level, and that is all I know."
Rumblings of an American Psycho remake from Lionsgate were reported last February, which followed a 2021 report that the company was developing an American Psycho TV series.
Last year saw Guadagnino direct an adaptation of William S. Burroughs's Queer and the Zendaya-led Challengers. The latter was named among Exclaim!'s Best Films of 2024.