Quel homme moderne adoptera la hache comme outil ?

Patrick Bateman – the man, the murderer, the meme. In American Psycho in 2000, starring Christian Bale, it quickly became clear to the audience that the satirical psychological thriller wanted to do more than just thrill. Author Bret Easton Ellis and director Marie Harron both attacked the misanthropic mentality of American corporate wolves and Wall Street with a lot of blood and black humor.

But what would an American psychopath look like today? This is the question that a creative team under Lionsgate will soon have to ask, as Hollywood journalist Jeffrey Sneider from The InSneider recently revealed that a modern remake of American Psycho is in development.

New York in the late 80s: Patrick Bateman (Bale) is a successful and sleazy investment banker who tells his secretary how to dress and competes with his clone-like colleagues based on expensive business cards. However, unlike the other Wall Street big shots, Patrick pretends to almost only be a member of humanity, from which he has long mentally isolated himself.

A man who has it all, a perfect body, who frequents the city’s most exclusive restaurants – and who is only satisfied when he occasionally kills a homeless person or a casual sex worker.

After the murder of his colleague Paul Allen (Jared Leto), it seems like investigator Willem Dafoe is finally getting closer. But in the world of American markets, shifting reality ultimately favors the wealthy white man…

Two big questions arise in the context of a remake: who will fill the difficult shoes and play Patrick (or even Patricia) Bateman? And how will the iconic satirical scenes of the film be reinterpreted – or not at all?

At the time, Leonardo DiCaprio was cast for the role, after which director Harron had to step back for a short period and his colleague Oliver Stone took over. It was only when DiCaprio left due to creative differences that Harron came back and brought Bale into the serial killer role.

The casting choice today will likely depend on who and what is currently being satirized. Is it still the soulless cosmos of American corporations, which has changed little or not at all since the 80s? Or perhaps it is influencers and online scammers who will give the whole thing a whole new coat of paint?

Will Bateman continue to celebrate and overinterpret the schmaltzy successes of the 80s? Or is today’s psychopath an unconditional fan of Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Kanye?

Gender swap has already been done in the universally unpopular sequel American Psycho 2 with Mila Kunis as a serial killer.