It was reported recently by Jeff Sneider that Lionsgate was looking to do a “modern remake” of Mary Harron’s 2000 horror thriller, American Psycho, which is based off the Bret Easton Ellis novel by the same name (which I am reading currently, subtle flex). I cannot stress how bad of an idea this is for many reasons. The first being very obvious. A lot like sequels, remakes are extremely difficult to nail. In the past, we’ve seen remakes of Psycho and Halloween flop. But remakes of West Side Story and Little Women were beloved by audiences.

When you have a film as great as American Psycho, there is no need to remake it. It won’t carry the same juice that the original had. Nor will it have memorable performances from Christian Bale or Willem Dafoe. Aside from the fact that a remake is not needed, American Psycho recently regained popularity in recent years. That means that a whole new fanbase that fell in love with the film won’t be receptive to a remake. That includes myself.

American Psycho is set in the late 1980s, came out in the early 2000s, and then regained massive popularity in the early 2020s. It just feels as if it’d be a bastardization of Harron’s work to remake it, especially with its recent bump.

Where I also think that a remake of American Psycho would struggle is in its attempt to modernize it. The finance industry is still relatively similar to what it was in the 1980s. It’s still an industry packed with testosterone and fueled by copious amounts of cocaine and power, so where does American Psycho change? The guys working in the industry haven’t changed, other than the fact that Hinge exists and they prowl that more often than clubs. Not only are the roots of the 1980s finance industry the same, but the leaves and branches of it also haven’t changed.

In the same vein of the struggle to modernize American Psycho, I think its messaging will be lost. When it regained popularity in 2021, the message was lost. Many young men saw the film and idolized Bateman. They didn’t realize that, a lot like Fight Club, the film and novel are satirical views of the group it covers. American Psycho makes fun of the vapid materialistic nature of finance bros. It shows how someone else’s nicer business card could make men spiral. That getting a reservation was more important than your morals. In no way should the film and lifestyle have been romanticized — but it was.

If you release a remake now to a generation easily brainwashed by money, booze and women, we’d see a repeat of this romanticization. Think of how Jordan Belfort’s life was ogled at when the Wolf of Wall Street came out. Now times that by ten. That would be the effect of an American Psycho remake.

My final qualm that I’ll note is that casting the character of Patrick Bateman won’t be easy. It actually seems near impossible with todays pool of actors. Christian Bale blended into Bateman and carried an aura of both a pretentious finance bro and a clinically insane monster. Obviously, that came mainly from him being a great actor, but it also came from his appearance. On screen in American Psycho, he’s chiseled and handsome. Imperfections on Bale’s appearance in this role don’t exist.

Many people on X stated that casting Glenn Howerton as Bateman would be ideal. His Juilliard influenced delivery and mannerisms makes sense, but I don’t think he possesses the appearance Bale had to nail the role. Yes, he was great in Blackberry, but I don’t think he’d be a believable Patrick Bateman.

Past Howerton, the pool gets more shallow. Of the popular actors available, it seems like no one checks all of the Bateman boxes. Timothee Chalamet, no. Lucas Hedges, no. Austin Butler, no. Mike Faist, no. Jacob Elordi, n-, wait a second. Maybe. He’s tall, handsome and chiseled and he exuded impressive fits of rage in Euphoria that I could see him playing a pretty decent Patrick Bateman.

While I don’t think that Lionsgate should go through with remaking American Psycho, I’d pick Elordi to play Bateman. But Lionsgate doesn’t listen to me. They call the shots, I don’t. Maybe in 2025 or 2026 we’ll see a modernization of American Psycho that won’t touch the greatness that is the original. That would be disappointing.