Is Luca Guadagnino's 'American Psycho' Remake 'Fake News?' Author Bret Easton Ellis Thinks So

"American Psycho" author Bret Easton Ellis dismissed reports of a new movie based on the novel as "fake news," saying none of the A-listers supposedly involved have contracts for the project, IndieWire reported.

The 1991 novel, about a brand-obsessed Wall Street bro named Patrick Bateman who has a good background but a sadistic taste for killing and cannibalism, raised hackles upon its publication, but that didn't stop a Mary Harron-directed movie version from hitting screens in 2000. The film starred Christian Bale in the title role.

The new version supposedly would star Austin Butler as Bateman and be helmed by "Queer" director Luca Guadagnino. But Ellis aired his skepticism that any of the reports about the new movie reflect reality, and said he is "not involved creatively on any level" with the purported fresh adaptation.

"I have a feeling it's fake news," World of Reel quoted Ellis saying on his podcast. "I heard somewhere, from someone, that there are no contracts. Austin Butler hasn't signed anything to play Patrick Bateman. Luca doesn't have a deal. Scott Burns, who is supposed to write the screenplay, doesn't have a deal either."

Ellis theorized that stories about the new film version are "fake news that was put out there to see how an audience is going to react."

Reports of the new film emerged last fall, and "Dune Part 2" star Austin Butler was supposedly in talks to star after Jacob Elordi reportedly declined the role.

If the reports did turn out to be true, it wouldn't be the first time Guadagnino has remade a cult classic. He revisited Dario Argento's 1977 giallo "Suspiria" with his own version in 2018.

In any case, the "Challengers" and "Call Me By Your Name" director has a busy slate of projects lined up, including a documentary about fellow Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci, a big-screen adaptation of the 1901 Thomas Mann novel, "Buddenbrooks" (in collaboration with screenwriter Francesca Manieri, with whom he also collaborated on the HBO series "We Are Who We Are"), and a movie adaptation of Pier Vittorio Tondelli's classic queer novel "Separate Rooms," also reportedly being written by Manieri.

"Ellis, in the meantime, has his semi-autobiographical 'The Shards' HBO series in the works with Kristoffer Borgli directing," IndieWire noted. "He will additionally make his long-awaited directorial debut with 'Relapse.'"