American Psycho

***American Psycho*** is a 2000 satirical psychological horror film co-written and directed by Mary Harron, based on Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel of the same name.

## Storyline

### Plot

A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.

### Genres

* Comedy
* Crime
* Drama

### Motion Picture Rating

* **18** (Argentina)
* **R** (Australia)
* **18** (Brazil)
* **18A** (Canada)
* **14** (Chile)
* **15** (Czech Republic)
* **15** (Denmark)
* **K-16** (Finland)
* **16** (France)
* **16** (Germany)
* **III** (Hong Kong)
* **18** (Hungary)
* **16** (Iceland)
* **A** (India)
* **18** (Ireland)
* **VM14** (Italy)
* **R-15** (Japan)
* **D** (Mexico)
* **C** (Mexico) (DVD rating)
* **16** (Netherlands)
* **R18** (New Zealand)
* **15** (Norway)
* **18** (Peru)
* **R-18** (Philippines)
* **M/16** (Portugal)
* **18+** (Russia)
* **R21** (Singapore)
* **18** (South Korea)
* **18** (Spain)
* **15** (Sweden)
* **18** (Switzerland)
* **18** (UK)
* **R** (USA)

## Images

USA VHS coverUSA DVD cover (2000)UK VHS coverUK DVD cover (2000)USA DVD cover (2003)USA Blu-Ray coverUK DVD cover (2015)UK Blu-Ray coverUSA 4K UHD Blu-Ray coverUK 4K UHD Blu-Ray cover
## Cast and Crew

### Writing Credits (WGA)

* Bret Easton Ellis (novel)
* Mary Harron (screenplay) and
* Guinevere Turner (screenplay)

### Cast

* Christian Bale - Patrick Bateman
* Willem Dafoe - Donald Kimball
* Jared Leto - Paul Allen
* Josh Lucas - Craig McDermott
* Samantha Mathis - Courtney Rawlinson
* Matt Ross - Luis Carruthers
* Bill Sage - David Van Patten
* Chloë Sevigny - Jean
* Cara Seymour - Christie
* Justin Theroux - Timothy Bryce
* Guinevere Turner - Elizabeth
* Reese Witherspoon - Evelyn Williams
* Krista Sutton - Sabrina
* Stephen Bogaert - Harold Carnes

### Producers

* Ernie Barbarash (co-producer)
* Alessandro Camon (co-producer)
* Joseph Drake (executive producer)
* Christian Halsey Solomon (producer)
* Chris Hanley (producer)
* Victoria Hirst (line producer)
* Gretchen McGowan (line producer: title sequence)
* Michael Paseornek (executive producer)
* Edward R. Pressman (producer)
* Jeff Sackman (executive producer)
* Clifford Streit (co-producer)
* Rob Weiss (co-producer)

## Details

### Countries

* USA
* Canada

### Language

* English
* Spanish
* Cantonese

### Release Dates

* January 21, 2000 (USA) (Sundance Film Festival)
* February 18, 2000 (Germany) (Berlin International Film Festival)
* April 14, 2000 (USA)
* April 21, 2000 (UK)
* May 18, 2000 (Hong Kong)
* May 26, 2000 (Norway)
* May 26, 2000 (Sweden)
* May 31, 2000 (Finland) (Helsinki) (premiere)
* June 2, 2000 (Denmark)
* June 2, 2000 (Finland)
* June 2, 2000 (Ireland)
* June 7, 2000 (France)
* July 13, 2000 (Czech Republic) (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
* July 20, 2000 (Israel)
* July 21, 2000 (Iceland)
* August 10, 2000 (Australia)
* August 24, 2000 (Argentina)
* September 1, 2000 (Greece)
* September 7, 2000 (Czech Republic)
* September 7, 2000 (Germany)
* September 7, 2000 (New Zealand)
* September 20, 2000 (Belgium)
* September 28, 2000 (Netherlands)
* September 29, 2000 (Spain)
* October 2000 (Brazil) (Festival of Rio)
* October 11, 2000 (Venezuela)
* October 13, 2000 (Poland)
* October 19, 2000 (Peru)
* November 25, 2000 (South Korea)
* December 15, 2000 (Brazil) (limited)
* December 22, 2000 (Brazil)
* March 9, 2001 (Turkey)
* April 12, 2001 (Switzerland) (German speaking region)
* May 3, 2001 (Japan) (Tokyo)
* May 25, 2001 (Italy)
* March 2, 2020 (Estonia)

### Home Media Release Dates

* September 5, 2000 (USA) (VHS)
* September 5, 2000 (USA) (DVD)
* October 30, 2000 (UK) (VHS)
* October 30, 2000 (UK) (DVD)
* May 20, 2003 (USA) (DVD re-release)
* March 14, 2006 (USA) (UMD)
* February 6, 2007 (USA) (Blu-Ray)
* July 6, 2015 (UK) (DVD re-release)
* July 6, 2015 (UK) (Blu-Ray)
* September 25, 2018 (USA) (4K UHD Blu-Ray)
* October 15, 2018 (UK) (4K UHD Blu-Ray)

## Reception

### Box office

*American Psycho* grossed $34,266,564 worldwide on a $7 million budget.

### Critical response

The film has a 7.6 rating on IMDb and a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

## Company Credits

### Production Companies

* Lionsgate Films
* Universal Pictures
* Edward R. Pressman Film
* Muse Productions

### Distributors

* Lionsgate Films (2000) (USA) (theatrical)
* Lionsgate Films (2000) (Canada) (theatrical)
* Entertainment Film Distributors (2000) (UK) (theatrical)
* Sony Pictures Releasing (2000) (Australia) (theatrical)
* Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (2000) (Finland) (theatrical)
* Metropolitan Filmexport (2000) (France) (theatrical)
* Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (2000) (Spain) (theatrical)
* Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (2000) (Sweden) (theatrical)
* Universal Studios Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
* Universal Studios Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
* Entertainment in Video (2000) (UK) (VHS)
* Entertainment in Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
* Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
* Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (UMD)
* Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (Blu-Ray)
* Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2015) (UK) (DVD)
* Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2015) (UK) (Blu-Ray)
* Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2018) (USA) (4K UHD Blu-Ray)
* Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2018) (UK) (4K UHD Blu-Ray)

### Special Effects

* Kavanaugh Special Effects (special effects)
* Steve Johnson's XFX (make-up special effects)

## Trivia

* This is the first film of where Christian Bale started his run on different physiques and body transformations. Others include *Reign of Fire* (2002), *The Machinist* (2004), *Batman Begins* (2005), *Rescue Dawn* (2006), *The Dark Knight* (2008), *The Fighter* (2010), *The Dark Knight Rises* (2012), and *American Hustle* (2013).
* Keanu Reeves was offered the lead role.
* Josh Lucas and Reese Witherspoon appeared in *Sweet Home Alabama* (2002).
* This is one of two Christian Bale films released in 2000. The other film is *Shaft* (2000).

## Connections

### Referenced in

* *Escape Room* (2019) - Ben says that Jason is the one from the group with "the whole American Psycho vibe".