So wait, Luca Guadagnino’s ‘American Psycho’ remake with Austin Butler might not be real?

The streets are saying Luca Guadagnino’s remake of American Psycho was all a big hoax, and we’re kind of freaking out right now.

Okay, it wasn’t exactly the streets, it was American Psycho novelist Bret Easton Ellis (which is even more concerning) and he didn’t call it a “hoax” (or at least, not in so many words). Speaking on his podcast, the author of the controversial book that inspired Mary Harron’s 2000s cinematic cult classic said he “heard somewhere” that Guadagnino’s rumored remake is not currently on very solid ground, indeed.

According to the writer, neither the director, screenwriter Scott Burns, nor rumored star Austin Butler have signed actual documents attaching them to the project. As it stands, this hotly anticipated next step for the beloved and prolific Italian director and his would-be new protégé is very much just in the wind.

Ellis has a feeling the whole thing has been “fake news” from the start

You know how at the end of American Psycho you can’t really tell which parts of what you’ve just experienced actually happened or were just a product of Patrick Bateman’s imagination? Well, that’s sort of how we’re feeling right now after learning that the buzzy rumors about a reboot were, for now, possibly all just a testing of the waters. And well, if we’ve just spoiled the ending of the film for you, we’re sorry, but also it’s been 25 years and this is arguably still Christian Bale’s best performance, so, really, what are you waiting for to watch it?!

“From various sources that I have, this is just fake news that was put out there to see how an audience is going to react,” the novelist claimed. News of the supposed reboot first emerged in October, with Deadline reporting that the Challengers auteur was “in final negotiations” with Lionsgate to direct an American Psycho film from a script by the The Laundromat and Extrapolations scribe. Later, in December, Variety exclusively announced that Butler, one of the most coveted actors of his generation, was “poised to star” in the film.

While the language used in both articles is ultimately compatible with Ellis’ comments, it’s usually the case that publications like the ones mentioned only run these kinds of stories when the deals are on solid enough ground. As a result, both things can be true. Deals may not have been finalized as yet between Lionsgate and the three men linked to the new American Psycho, but the movie could still very much be in the works, unlike what the author has suggested.

We would be especially wary of throwing the expression “fake news” around, given the gravity actual misinformation poses in our society at large in the current climate, especially as it pertains to journalistic practice. With both Deadline and Variety having published reports about this film, we’re more inclined to believe that it is a work in progress rather than a façade to check the audience’s temperature.

In any case, if that’s truly what it was, then Lionsgate will probably want to get Guadagnino and Butler on the phone ASAP, because the buzz is very much real. Some is fueled by sheer excitement to see such a competent and fearless director and equally competent and fearless actor take on such a heady story, while another part comes from plain curiosity.

Film fans have expressed some anxiety about seeing a man take on Ellis’ book, arguing that it was Harron’s female sensibility that elevated his writing into the incisive movie 2000’s American Psycho wound up being. The story, of course, follows a violently misogynistic, self-obsessed New York City investment banker who goes on a murdering spree.

It’s been praised for its commentary on aggressively capitalistic, individualistic societies as well as corporate America. And we personally think a new Guadagnino adaptation would be a blast. So, it better be happening.