American Psycho

:This article is about the book and film. For the album by The Misfits, see American Psycho (album).

The movie

A film adaptation of American Psycho debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000, starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe and Samantha Mathis. Mary Harron, who had previously directed I Shot Andy Warhol based on the story of Valerie Solanas, directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with Guinevere Turner. This screenplay was selected over three others, including one by Ellis himself; according to Turner, Ellis's script ended with a giant musical number. When she asked Ellis about this, he admitted he had been unable to think of a good way to end his script. (This story is supposedly untrue; rather, Ellis simply suggested ending it this way when a studio suggested a more concrete ending.)

Related Topics:
Sundance Film Festival - 2000 - Christian Bale - Justin Theroux - Josh Lucas - Bill Sage - Chloe Sevigny - Reese Witherspoon - Willem Dafoe - Samantha Mathis - Mary Harron - I Shot Andy Warhol - Valerie Solanas - Screenplay - Guinevere Turner

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As a promotion for the movie, one could sign up to receive e-mails "from" Patrick Bateman. In this way, people could find out what happened to some of the characters in the movie.

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A direct-to-video sequel, ' followed. This sequel was not based on the novel and cannot be reconciled with subsequent novels by Bret Easton Ellis, as its only connection with the original is the death, in flashback, of Patrick Bateman himself.

Related Topics:
Direct-to-video - Sequel

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Leonardo DiCaprio, an early consideration for the role of Patrick Bateman, decided to star in The Beach instead.

Related Topics:
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Beach

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To clean up the unedited DVD version of the movie and achieve a relatively mild R rating, the producers excised approximately eighteen seconds of footage from a ménage à trois scene featuring an emotionally detached Patrick Bateman and two prostitutes.

Related Topics:
R rating - Ménage à trois

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The song "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves, which runs during the establishing shots of New York City and Wall Street, makes an ironic reference to Michael J. Fox's The Secret of My Success, which also features the song.

Related Topics:
Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves - Wall Street - Michael J. Fox - The Secret of My Success

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While working out, Patrick Bateman watches Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Several scenes later he pursues a victim with a chainsaw.

Related Topics:
Tobe Hooper - Texas Chainsaw Massacre

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Movie Soundtrack

• You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Dope
• Monologue 1 - John Cale
• Something In The Air (American Psycho remix) - David Bowie
• Watching Me Fall (Underdog remix) - The Cure
• True Faith - New Order
• Monologue 2 - John Cale
• Trouble - Daniel Ash
• Paid In Full (Coldcut remix) - Eric B. & Rakim
• Who Feelin' It (Philip's Psycho mix) - Tom Tom Club
• Monologue 3 - John Cale
• What's On Your Mind - Information Society (Pure Energy mix)
• Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S
• Paid In Full - The Racket (remix)

Huey Lewis and the News' "Hip To Be Square" was originally on the soundtrack, but shortly after it was released, the CD was pulled from the shelves and the song was removed before being reissued, but a small number had already been sold. Reports suggested that Huey Lewis had objected to the content in which his song was used in the film and demanded it be removed from the CD. In reality, there was no objection over the content. While the movie people had paid for the rights to use the song in the film, the rights to include it on the soundtrack were overlooked. When the soundtrack was released with the song on it, Huey Lewis' people had it withdrawn, as the soundtrack rights had not been secured.

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