The unnecessary remake of classics continues! Lionsgate is working on remakes of both Mary Harron’s “American Psycho” and David Cronenberg’s “The Dead Zone,” according to The InSneider.
I’ll briefly tackle the ‘Dead Zone’ remake, which is still in the very early stages of development. That’s definitely one of the 6 or 7 best Cronenberg films. If you haven’t seen it, then you absolutely should. It also features one of Christopher Walken’s best roles.
The “American Psycho” remake will follow on Harron’s 2000 film, based on Bret Easton Ellis’ novel, which starred a never-better Christian Bale as 1980s Wall Street sociopath Patrick Bateman. Lionsgate is currently searching for a writer to reboot the film for the modern age, with a fresh new take on the character.
The film did spawn a direct-to-video sequel that absolutely nobody cared to watch, 2002’s “American Psycho 2,” starring Mila Kunis. It bear no resemblance whatsoever, nor was it connected, to the original — the only reason it was called “American Psycho 2” was to fool audiences into renting it.
At the time of its release, the film was attacked by notable feminists for its violence against women. Want to bet that this Lionsgate reboot will try to avoid any kind of controversy by steering far away from the novel’s most pertinent and relevant landmines?
The book’s anti-hero, Patrick Bateman, a work and character of pure transgressive art, warned us about consumer culture. The sexism was the point, which further elaborated into the shallow and vicious aspects of materialism and superficiality. It predicted the postmodern world in which, as literary critic Jeffrey W. Hunter so well put it, the “surface” would reign supreme.