Hollywood Flashback: Christian Bale Went ‘Psycho’ After Dicaprio Bailed

A quarter Century agro, Director Mary Harron’s American Psycho Took a stab at satirizing yuppie culture. IT Stars Christian Bale As Patrick Bateman, An Investment Banker in 1980s Nyc Who Secretly Lives Out His Murdaros Fantasies, And Is Adapted from Bretor Easton Elis by Its Initial Publisher in 1990 Before Beware A Best-Seller Upon Hitting Shelves A Year Later. IT Soon Attracted Attraction as a Potential Film, with Director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) Eyeing It for Johnny Dep to Star. Once Lionsgate Landed The Project, David Cronenberg Was Among the Directors Attached Before Harron (I shot andy warhol) Took the gig. Harron Wasn’t Familiar with The Book But, Despite Finding Its Violence SomeTimes Disturbing, Felt It Was Time to Examine ’80s Consumerism. “From The Start, Mary Had A Very Clear Vision of the Tone,“ Producer Alessandro Camon Tells The Hollywood Reporter. “She Always Saw It As A Dark Comedy and A Period Movie.”

To revamp the script, Harron enlisted screenwriter Guinevever Turner, Who Was Working with Her On The Notorious Bettie Page. As for Playing Bateman, Billy Crudup Came Aboard Before Deciding He Wasn’t Right. Bale, A Former Child Actor Coming Off A String of Indies, ImpResed Harron in His Audition. However, Lionsgate Surprised Her by Announcing at Cannes in 1998 that Leonardo Dicaprio, Hot Off The Success of Titanicwould play the lead. Harron Disagrated with The Choice and Was Let Go, With Oliver Stone Taking Over. Ultimately, Dicaprio Left to Make The Beachand Harron and Bale Returned. Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Chloë Sevigny and Reese withrspoon Rounded Out the Cast. Lionsgate Released The Movie April 14, 2000, and IT Collected A Modest $ 34 Million ($ 63 Million Today).

American Psycho Has Become a Cult Favorite Thanks in Part To Younger Audiens Discovering It Through Social Media Memes. Castmember Bill Sage, Who Played One of Bateman’s Colleagues and Was Part of Stone’s Initial Table Read, Says of the Film: “IT Wuld Not Be the Classic that Its. And now the classic will be revisted by Luca Guadagnino, Who Recently Teased His New Take for Lionsgate at Cinemacon.

This Story Appeared in the April 16 Issue of the Hollywood Reporter Magazine. Click Here to Subscribe.

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