Christian Bale was asked who should play Patrick Bateman in a new American Psycho adaptation at the March 3 premiere of The Bride! in New York. His answer to The Hollywood Reporter was generous, with a warning tucked in: “Whoever wants to give it a shot, give it a pop.” He wished the next actor well, called taking on the role a “bold choice” and added, “I like brave people.”
Bale played Bateman in Mary Harron’s 2000 film, and he told THR he had “fantastic memories of it all.” He also said he knew little about the new project, including whether it was a remake. Lionsgate sources told Deadline that Luca Guadagnino’s planned film is a new adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel rather than a remake of Harron’s movie.
The pressure on whoever plays Bateman goes beyond the joke in the circulating tweet. Ellis said unnamed high-profile actors had passed on the role and wondered whether they wanted to avoid “the shoes of Christian Bale.”
Harron has said of Bale as Bateman, “He is so firmly set in my mind, I can’t imagine anyone else doing it.” THR reported in March that the new film had yet to cast its Bateman.
