Line #4 Trivia/AmericanPsycho


1	----
2	!!The book:
3	* CreatorBacklash: Ellis slightly regrets using "Hip To Be Square" as an example of the vapid pop he wanted to eviscerate. He wound up listening to the full song years later and actually found it not bad at all.
4	* FollowTheLeader: Creator/BretEastonEllis was partially inspired by ''Film/WallStreet''.
5	* InspirationForTheWork: Creator/BretEastonEllis met with Wall Street bankers as research. They took him out to lunches, dinners and clubs, but not once did he see them work or spend time in their offices. The one-upmanship between them inspired him to change the course of the story.
6	* MidDevelopmentGenreShift: Ellis originally imagined Bateman as a disillusioned but nonviolent protagonist. After a dinner with friends who worked on Wall Street, he decided to make him a {{serial killer}}.
7	* ShrugOfGod: Ellis [[https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/american-psycho-at-25-bret-easton-ellis-on-patrick-batemans-legacy-175227/ stated]] that even he doesn't know whether Patrick is a real serial killer or not.
8	* TechnologyMarchesOn: Patrick's state-of-the-art home entertainment equipment seems a bit quaint when read now.
9	* WriteWhoYouKnow: Ellis has described Bateman as being based on his father. His idolization of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump was based on his friends' respect for and envy of the mogul.
10
11	!!The film:
12	* ActorInspiredElement: For the scenes where Patrick Bateman was trying to be friendly, Creator/ChristianBale tried to put on a fake smile that "didn't reach the eyes" to look more inhuman. He got this idea watching a talk show interview with Creator/TomCruise (who's actually mentioned in the original novel) and noticing his smile never reached his eyes despite his aggressive friendliness.
13	* ActorSharedBackground: Patrick once justifies his assumption that Elizabeth is a lesbian by reminding her that she went to Sarah Lawrence. Creator/GuinevereTurner (who plays Elizabeth) '''is''' a lesbian, and really '''did''' go to Sarah Lawrence.
14	* ApprovalOfGod:
15	** A complicated example with Huey Lewis. Not only loved the scene of Patrick talking about his music but actually agreed with some of his opinions of it. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk15H6PjBis He even went on to parody the scene with Weird Al]] for ''Funny or Die'' in 2013. That said, [[https://consequence.net/2023/03/huey-lewis-american-psycho/ he's never actually seen the full film]], as he was upset that a press junket [[PopCultureUrbanLegends made up a story that claimed he removed Hip To Be Square from the soundtrack because of his distaste for the violence]], and so boycotted the movie in response.
16	** Music/PhilCollins, whose solo career is referenced in the book and film alike, recalled:
17	--->I didn't read it. At the time, I just thought, "That's all we need: glorifying all this crap. I'm not interested." Then the film came out and I thought it was very funny.
18	** Creator/BretEastonEllis also had complicated feelings on how the film adapted his work. Although he has praised certain aspects, like giving a more darkly comedic tone to clarify that the source material was satire and that it introduced the book to new audiences, he thought that the film didn't have the ambiguity the novel had, some of the improvisations like Patrick's Moonwalk Dance were out of character and in general, and thought it was just an okay movie that didn't need to be made. Although when he's asked about it, he says his opinion is more positive than negative.
19	* AwesomeDearBoy: Everyone told Creator/ChristianBale not to do the film, saying that it would be career suicide. He actively campaigned for the role even after he had been passed over for Creator/LeonardoDicaprio.
20	* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/JaredLeto was considered for Patrick Bateman. He was cast as Paul Allen.
21	* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Became ''American Murder'' in Taiwan.
22	* DeletedScene:
23	** Patrick trying and failing to seduce Evelyn into sex and having a discussion as to why she doesn't completely go for Timothy Bryce.
24	** Patrick and Courtney having sex but get interrupted due to concerns of not properly practicing safe sex.
25	** Kimball crossing paths with Patrick at a club and having a brief conversation.
26	** Patrick and his friends having a conversation while riding in a limousine.
27	** While at a club, Timothy Bryce is extremely uncomfortable for some unknown reason to where he tells Patrick that he's leaving, jumps over a banister, and runs out of the crowded club as Patrick looks on.
28	* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/ChristianBale had never set foot in a gym before he started working out constantly to achieve the chiseled look that the narcissist Bateman would have. Even after he was removed from the film in favor of Leonardo Dicaprio, he kept up his routine in case he managed to snag the role back. He did.
29	* FakeAmerican: Creator/ChristianBale, a British actor hailing from Wales, played Patrick Bateman in the film. He spoke in an American accent at all times, and was so convincing and thorough with it that when he spoke in his normal Welsh accent at the film's wrap party, everyone was surprised since they genuinely thought he was American.
30	* HideYourPregnancy: Creator/ReeseWitherspoon was three months pregnant when she made this film.
31	* MethodActing: Bale took quite some extremes to invest himself into the character of Bateman. Bale distanced himself from others on set to remain emotionally detached from his co-stars (Bateman claimed he would start laughing if he knew the actors he was playing against), and actually maintained the famous morning routine described at the start of the film. He also kept his accent up throughout filming.
32	* OneTakeWonder: Mary Harron agonized over the scene where Bateman pulls off his facemask, worrying that the mask would break up when it's being pulled off. It was done successfully on the first take.
33	* SavedFromDevelopmentHell:
34	** Producer Edward R. Pressman first bought the rights to the book in 1992, with Creator/JohnnyDepp expressing an interest in starring as Patrick Bateman and Stuart Gordon directing. Gordon wanted to do the film in black and white and stick as close to the book as possible, meaning a guaranteed X-rating. When this fell through, Creator/DavidCronenberg was brought in, with Creator/BretEastonEllis adapting the book himself. Ellis found the process difficult, due to Cronenberg wanting to excise the book's violence and the restaurant and nightclub scenes (which he considered boring). Cronenberg was still listed as being attached to direct in March 1994, but with a new script by Norman Snider.
35	** Pressman appeared at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival to pre-sell distribution rights, but to no avail. Mary Harron replaced Cronenberg as director and wrote a new script with Creator/GuinevereTurner and Creator/ChristianBale starring; Harron and Bale clicked immediately, feeling like they shared a similar sense of humour about Bateman. Lionsgate picked up the distribution rights in 1997 and filming was due to begin in August 1998. However, Lionsgate felt that Bateman wasn't famous enough and pushed for Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio for the lead. Harron, who only wanted Bale, refused to even meet with [=DiCaprio=], let alone cast him, as she felt that he was completely wrong for the part and that his teenage girl fanbase would be put off.
36	** When it seemed like Harron and Bale were out, [=DiCaprio=] drafted a shortlist of replacement directors, including Creator/DannyBoyle, Creator/MartinScorsese and Creator/OliverStone, who was attached with a new script written by Matthew Markwalder with Creator/JamesWoods as Donald Kimball, Creator/CameronDiaz as Evelyn Smythe, Creator/ElizabethBerkley as Courtney Rawlinson and Creator/ChloeSevigny as Jean. Stone, whom Harron called "probably the single worst single person to do it", wanted to eliminate the satire from Harron's script, emphasizing the psychological character traits of Bateman. However, Stone could not agree on the film's direction with [=DiCaprio=], who decided to star in ''Film/TheBeach'' instead.
37	** In the meantime, Bale remained committed, turning down other movie roles and auditions for nine months, confident that [=DiCaprio=] would depart. In 2022 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRGHIN2PGIA he talked]] of how he would occasionally talk to Harron on the phone, and she would tell him that the film was being made by other people, and he should probably stop preparing for it, and we would simply reply ''Yeah, no--we're gonna make it.'' He and Harron were eventually brought back under the agreement that the budget would not exceed $10 million. Production finally started in February 1999 and finished in April of that year.
38	* StarMakingRole: Despite being warned that playing Patrick Bateman would be "career suicide", the film wound up garnering more attention for Creator/ChristianBale, with the success of the movie and his performance landing him bigger leading roles, eventually leading him to play [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Batman]].
39	* TechnologyMarchesOn: In the movie, the most visible example is the ''gigantic cellphone''. Of course, given that it's set during the tail end of the UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan administration (and was therefore designed as a period piece from the outset), it gets away with it.
40	* ThrowItIn:
41	** There are two scenes that involved improvisation by Bale that was kept in the movie: the jump-rope scene (Bale crossing his arms was improvised) and the MoonwalkDance Bateman does, so as to hide his axe, shortly before killing Paul Allen (which was one of the only problems the author of the original novel had with the movie).
42	** When he kills Paul Allen, the blood splatters across Bale's face-- but only half of it, so that [[RuleOfSymbolism from one angle, he looks normal, but when he turns another way, you can see the blood-spattered madman.]] The blood splatter landing in that way was actually a complete accident and the symbolism was totally unintentional.
43	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
44	** Creator/DavidCronenberg was originally attached to direct the film; among other things, he wanted to cut out all the restaurant and nightclub scenes (which he felt were boring) as well as all of the graphic violence (despite Cronenberg being well-known for the gory and otherwise visceral content of his other films).
45	** Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio was the original actor for Bateman before he had to drop out due to schedule conflicts (primarily, production of ''Film/TheBeach''). Imagine what THAT would've been like.
46	** Creator/EdwardNorton and Creator/KeanuReeves were also initially offered the role. Other candidates were Creator/BillyCrudup (who was offered the part but turned it down), Creator/HughGrant, Creator/JonnyLeeMiller and Creator/RobertSeanLeonard. Creator/EwanMcGregor was subsequently offered the role, but declined after Creator/ChristianBale personally urged him to do so.
47	** Creator/DrewBarrymore and Creator/LivTyler were originally sought to play some of the female roles.
48	** Bret Easton Ellis [[SelfAdaptation wrote the first screenplay for the film]] back when Cronenberg was attached as director. Thanks to CreativeDifferences with Cronenberg and a growing sense of ennui towards his own novel, Ellis' script was a radical departure from the book, most significantly ending with an elaborate musical sequence to Music/BarryManilow's "Daybreak" atop the World Trade Center, which Ellis described as microcosmic of his CreatorsApathy. Ellis' script ultimately went unused.
49	* The scenes in which Detective Kimball and Patrick Bateman interact were all shot in three takes: One where Kimball did not suspect Bateman as the murderer at all, one in which Kimball suspected Bateman but wasn't completely sure, and one where Kimball was ''sure'' Bateman was the murderer. These three takes were then spliced together, changing with every shot to the point that there are practically no two consecutive points where the camera is on Kimball that he has the same level of suspicion. The result is that not only is Kimball's feelings during the scene harder to pin down but also makes Kimball seem almost as unstable as Bateman ''himself'' is, and making Bateman's nervous shiftiness all the more understandable.
50
51	!!The musical:
52	* ApprovalOfGod: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCR_bMiry-Q Ellis]] actually approved of Benjamin Walker's far more expressive portrayal of Bateman.
53	* FontAnachronism: The business card scene and song number includes a reference to Constantia and Comic Sans, which were released in 2006 and 1994 respectively, while the musical takes place in the late 1980s. Of course, this is ''American Psycho'', so it works.
54	* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/MattSmith as Patrick Bateman.
55	* RealSongThemeTune: Several real songs from the 1980's are used as musical numbers, such as Music/TearsForFears' "[[Music/SongsFromTheBigChair Everybody Wants to Rule the World]]", Music/TheHumanLeague's "[[Music/{{Dare}} Don't You Want Me]]", Music/NewOrder's "[[Music/SubstanceNewOrderAlbum True Faith]]", Music/PhilCollins' "[[Music/FaceValue In the Air Tonight]]", and, of course, Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews' undisputed masterpiece, "Hip to Be Square". Many of these songs were previously featured in the 2000 film.

Context Trivia / AmericanPsycho