Lionsgate Remaking AMERICAN PSYCHO

If ever there was news to make you want to get out your axe and go on a murder spree... this might just be it. American Psycho, released just 11 years ago as one of the best horror/thrillers of the naughties becoming an undisputed cult favourite on equal par to that of the satirical Brett Easton Ellis novel on which it was based, and featuring an iconic, career-making turn from Christian Bale... is getting the remake treatment. Lionsgate are developing the tiny-budgeted, contemporary New York-set horror (great... so twitter and facebook will replace giant arsed 80s mobile phones) that they hope to make a quick buck from. It's said it will be "a down and dirty new version that imagines how yuppie serial killer Patrick Bateman would fare in New York today". The film will cost them very little to make, will probably be fast-tracked and shot within months and they believe curiosity from those cult fans who have kept American Psycho a decent seller on home video and at bookstores will result in a tidy little profit. Deadline says Noble Jones, a second unit helmer on The Social Network and a Grammy award winning documentary filmmaker behind 10 Days Out: Blues From the Backroad, has already wrote the script and will direct. Apparently this was his idea and he pitched it to the studio months ago and it will now film next year. The 2000 film followed Patrick Bateman, a wealthy investment banker during the Wall Street boom of the late 80's, who becomes a homicidal maniac by night. It spawned a sequel in 2002, starring Mila Kunis and William Shatner which was similarly a quick buck exercise and not essential viewing. For whatever reason (well money, obviously), every single horror notable horror film has to succumb to the modern day remake at some time and Lionsgate, without the annual revenue from the now dormant Saw franchise, are kinda desperate. They have looked at their back catalogue of titles and seen Patrick Bateman as an easy target. Mary Harron's controversial film from a decade ago is of course awesome and for my generation is a movie much-loved and regularly replayed. Certainly among my group of friends we can recite the dialogue almost word for word and can crack jokes and reference the movie and know we can instantly bring a smile from the other person anytime we like. No word on who will be stepping into Christian Bale's shoes but good luck to them...