The writers are embracing the satirical tone of Bret Eaton Ellis’ original novel, which is set during the height of the 1980’s Wall Street greed. “It’s brutal, obviously, but it’s also brutally funny… And that’s a slippery thing to capture,” he noted.

“It’s got big, flashy numbers, big ideas, big themes,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “It’s Patrick Bateman and his world… New York at the end of the 1980s, populated by the very rich, the very poor, the masters of the universe, the faceless, nameless, homeless. It’s sort of apocalyptic and big.”

And, there will be blood. Aguirre-Sacasa promises that the brutal murders depicted in the novel and film will be shocking on stage. The novel stirred controversy with its graphic accounts of how Bateman murdered his victims and mutilated their bodies. “The hope is to theatricalize the violence in such a way that it packs a visceral punch without being completely grindhouse,” Aguirre-Sacasa said. “But will you have to wear a raincoat if you sit in the front row? Too early to tell… But maybe.”

American Psycho will have an original score by Sheik, with a couple songs from the 1980’s sprinkled into key moments for effect. Ellis’ novel tethers itself to the era with numerous musical references. Sheik describes the sound of the score as “electronic art/pop mixed with re-imaginings of classic eighties synth/pop songs.”

One of the songs, titled “Hardbody,” is a workout song for the Wall Street men, which Aguirre-Sacasa calls “genius” and “disturbing.” He also added that some moments will function as story-driven theatre songs, while others “are just great club songs that make you want to dance—or, you know, go after someone with an ax.”