‘American Psycho’ musical heading to Broadway with Benjamin Walker as yuppie serial killer

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The musical based on the novel “American Psycho” is hoping to slay Broadway audiences.

Producers said Thursday that the show based on Bret Easton Ellis’s novel will find a home in a yet-unnamed Shubert theatre this winter, with previews starting Feb. 19. Benjamin Walker will play the title role of Patrick Bateman.

The book for the stage version was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Duncan Sheik penned music and lyrics for more than a dozen original songs. It centres on a yuppie serial killer who is obsessed with high-end clothes and beauty products even as he slashes his way through Manhattan. Christian Bale starred in the 2000 film version.

Sheik, who had the 1996 hit “Barely Breathing” and is the songwriter of the Tony Award-winning musical “Spring Awakening,” turned to Kickstarter to give the show a $150,000 infusion.

The show, directed by Rupert Goold, made its premiere in December at the Almeida Theatre in London and was to have landed off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre, but the company that owns the rights to the story had other plans.

Walker’s Broadway credits include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” alongside Scarlett Johannson and “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.” He starred in the 2012 film “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” and Clint Eastwood-directed “Flags Of Our Fathers.”