In a new overarching interview with Deadline, Lionsgate TV chairman Kevin Beggs has confirmed that a TV adaptation of the cult classic film American Psycho is currently in development. Not much detail was given about the series other than confirmation that the project is already in the works — but it's an announcement that fans of this dark comedy-drama are sure to get excited about.
"We’ve just wrapped up Dear White People which was a really good experience, Blindspotting is coming up, American Psycho is in development. We’re always exploring what we can do in television with something like the Saw franchise, so that’s a conversation," said Beggs. The American Psycho film first debuted in theaters during the spring of 2000 and starred Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a wealthy New York City investment banker who has an unnatural obsession with the quality of people's business cards, among other things. The original movie, directed by Mary Harron and based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis, also starred Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Samantha Mathis, Chloë Sevigny, Justin Theroux, Reg E. Cathey and Reese Witherspoon.
Lionsgate has been very busy over the past couple of years, even in spite of the Covid-19 production delays the entertainment industry has been experiencing. At the end of the 2020 pilot season, they managed to crank out three different pilots for shows which have now been converted to full series (Home Economics, This Country and Ghosts). In the same vein as the future American Psycho TV adaptation, Lionsgate is also producing The Continental (based on the popular John Wick movie franchise) along with a television adaptation of the Saw movies.
Unfortunately, Beggs didn't leak any information about who will be starring in the show, what it will be about, or when fans can anticipate a series debut. Since both the movie and the novel it was based on have a very finite ending, it'll be interesting to see how the plot of the show develops. Will Patrick Bateman come back, portrayed by a different actor? Will it be full of entirely new characters and storylines? Until we get more details from Lionsgate, fans can only speculate about what direction the eventual TV series will go in.