12 hours ago
Ryan Murphy Moving Ahead with Screen Treatment for Bret Easton Ellis' 'The Shards'
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Prolific out producer Ryan Murphy is moving ahead with a screen adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' fictionalized horror-memoir mashup "The Shards."
The 2023 novel, which The Hollywood Reporter noted "takes the author's high school years in Los Angeles as inspiration," pits a young protagonist named Brett against a new student who may or may not be involved with a string of gruesome murders. "Ellis first released 'The Shards' as an audiobook via his podcast before publishing it in 2023," the entertainment news outlet recalled.
As previously reported, the screen adaptation was originally to have been produced at HBO. That deal fell apart, and Murphy stepped in. By that point, the project had switched directorial hands a couple of times, with "Call Me By Your Name" and "Queer" director Luca Guadagnino having originally been named to helm the project, after which word was that Kristoffer Borgli would be in the director's chair.
Things are different now. "Kaia Gerber is attached to star in the project," THR detailed, "with Max Winkler set to direct."
The star and director "have worked with Murphy before," THR went on to recall. "Gerber has appeared on 'American Horror Story' and its offshoot 'American Horror Stories,' while Winkler has helmed episodes of both of those series along with 'Feud,' 'The Watcher,' 'Grotesquerie' and 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.'"
Rumors continue to swirl around another adaptation of an Ellis work – a remake of "American Psycho" that Guadagnino is said to be prepping. Ellis has openly doubted the veracity of that report, but the rumors persist, detailing that Austin Butler is in talks to star as Patrick Bateman, the role previously played by Christian Bale when the book was first adapted by Mary Harron in 2000.
If the project does go forward under Guadagnino's auspices and Butler turns out not to be attached, there's another actor with a big gay following ready to snatch up Bateman's axe: "The White Lotus" star Patrick Schwarzenegger has been vocal about his interest in the role.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
