Psycho (franchise)

American horror franchise

Psycho is an American horror franchise that began with the novels Psycho, Psycho II, and Psycho House by Robert Bloch, and was popularised by the film adaptations Psycho, Psycho II, Psycho III, Bates Motel, Psycho IV: The Beginning, the 1998 remake of the original film, and additional merchandise spanning various media. The first film, Psycho, was directed by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Subsequently, another film related to the series was made: an Alfred Hitchcock biopic, and two new novels, by Takekuni Kitayama and Chet Williamson, were released. Also, an independent documentary called The Psycho Legacy was released on October 19, 2010, mostly focusing on Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning, while covering the impact and legacy of the original film. The franchise focuses on Norman Bates, a deeply disturbed individual who operates the Bates Motel. He is mentally unstable due to his domineering relationship with his mother, which results in him having a psychotic twisted split personality, and, as a result, he occasionally kills people. A five season television series, Bates Motel, aired on A&E between 2013 and 2017. In a modern day setting, it is a re imagining of the Norman and Norma Bates characters, and their unusual relationship. It stars Freddie Highmore as a teenaged Norman and Vera Farmiga as his mother Norma.

In 1959, the novel Psycho was published. It was marketed as being loosely based on the Wisconsin serial killer and cannibal Ed Gein, after author Robert Bloch, who lived 40 miles away from Gein's farmhouse, learned of the killings shortly before finishing the novel, having independently liked the idea of somebody being able to kill people in a small community and get away with it for years without being caught. The character of Norman Bates was very different in the novel from in the film version. In the novel, Bates is overweight, in his early 40s and drinks heavily. When Joseph Stefano adapted the novel into the screenplay, he made the character of Norman young, attractive and vulnerable.

In 1982, Bloch wrote a sequel novel called Psycho II which satirized the slasher genre and mocked the production of the 1983 film version, which was created independently and without Bloch's input. In the novel, Norman Bates escapes the mental institution and goes to Hollywood to stop the production of a film based on his life. Criticisms of the novel stated that Bloch's writing was immature, incoherent and unsuitable for adaptation into a motion picture.

In 1990, due to the pressure from his publishing company, Bloch wrote a third novel called Psycho House. However, according to horror writer David J. Schow, when writing it Bloch originally called it Psycho 13. In the novel, set ten years after Norman Bates' death, the Bates mansion and motel are both bought as tourist attractions, before a series of mysterious murders begin to take place.

In 2013, Takekuni Kitayama published the second volume of his Danganronpa: Kirigiri mystery light novel series, exploring the origin story of the Ultimate Detective Kyoko Kirigiri. Set fifty years after the death of Norman Bates, forty years after the Bates mansion and motel's conversion to tourist attractions in Psycho House, and six years before Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, the novel follows the middle school age detective Kyoko and her assistance Yui Samidare as they investigate a "Duel Noir" death game being hosted on the grounds, alongside a hologram of Norman Bates himself, and his "family".

A fourth installment, titled Robert Bloch's Psycho: Sanitarium and written by Chet Williamson, was released in 2016. The book is set between the events of the original novel and Psycho II, recounting the events which took place in a state hospital for the criminally insane where Bates is a patient. Both Gein and Psychos protagonist, Norman Bates, were solitary murderers in isolated rural locations. Both had deceased, domineering mothers, and had sealed off one room of their house as a shrine to their mother, and both dressed in women's clothing. However, there are many differences between Bates and Ed Gein. Among others, Gein would not be strictly considered a serial killer, having officially killed "only" two people. Peggy Robertson, Hitchcock's production assistant, read Anthony Boucher's positive review of the Bloch novel and decided to show the book to Hitchcock, even though readers at Hitchcock's home studio Paramount Pictures rejected its premise for a film. Hitchcock acquired rights to the novel for $9,500. He reportedly ordered Robertson to buy up copies to keep the novel's surprises for the film. Hitchcock chose to film Psycho to recover from two aborted projects with Paramount: Flamingo Feather and No Bail for the Judge. Hitchcock also faced genre competitors whose works were critically compared to his own and so wanted to film new material. The director also disliked stars' salary demands and trusted only a few people to choose prospective material, including Robertson. Paramount executives did not want to produce the film and refused to provide the budget that Hitchcock received from them for previous films with the studio. Hitchcock decided to plan for Psycho to be filmed quickly and inexpensively, similar to an episode of his ongoing television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and hired the television series crew as Shamley Productions. He proposed this cost conscious approach to Paramount but executives again refused to finance the film, telling him their sound stages were occupied or booked even though production was known to be in a slump. Hitchcock countered with the offer to finance the film personally and to film it at Universal International if Paramount would distribute. He also deferred his director's fee of $250,000 for a 60% ownership of the film negative. This offer was finally accepted. Hitchcock also experienced resistance from producer Herbert Coleman and Shamley Productions executive Joan Harrison, who did not think the film would be a success. Hitchcock hired writer James Cavanaugh to write a draft of the screenplay. Unsatisfied with Cavanaugh's screenplay, Hitchcock then hired up and coming writer Joseph Stefano to adapt the novel. The film began shooting in December 1959 and would go on to last about a month. It was filmed mostly on the backlot of Universal and in various sound stages. During shooting, Hitchcock was forced to uncharacteristically do retakes for some scenes. The final shot in the shower scene, which starts with an extreme close up on Marion's eye and pulls up and out, proved very difficult for Leigh, since the water splashing in her face made her want to blink, and the cameraman had trouble as well since he had to manually focus while moving the camera. Retakes were also required for the opening scene, since Hitchcock felt that Leigh and Gavin were not passionate enough. Leigh had trouble saying "Not inordinately" for the real estate office scene, requiring additional retakes. Lastly, the scene in which the mother is discovered required complicated coordination of the chair turning around, Miles hitting the light bulb, and a lens flare, which proved to be the sticking point. Hitchcock forced retakes until all three elements were to his satisfaction. The famous shower scene took a week to complete and took up a third of Janet Leigh's shooting time. Psycho was released on June 16, 1960, to mixed critical reception and financial success, making thirty two million dollars in its theatrical run. The film received four Academy Award nominations. In 1982, author Robert Bloch published his novel Psycho II, which satirized Hollywood slasher films. Upset by this, Universal decided to make their own version that differed from Bloch's work. Originally, the film was intended as a made for cable production. Anthony Perkins originally turned down the offer to reprise the role of Norman Bates, but when the studio became interested in others (including Christopher Walken), Perkins quickly accepted. The studio also wanted Jamie Lee Curtis (daughter of Psycho star Janet Leigh) to play the role of Mary Loomis. In the British magazine Empire, film critic Kim Newman gave the film three out of five stars, calling Psycho II "a smart, darkly comic thriller with some imaginative twists. The wittiest dark joke is that the entire world wants Norman to be mad, and 'normality' can only be restored if he's got a mummified mother in the window and is ready to kill again". With the surprise financial and critical success of Psycho II, Universal began development on a second sequel. Writer Charles Edward Pogue was hired to write the screenplay. In Pogue's first draft of the film, it was Duane who was the killer and had intentionally come to the Bates Motel because he was obsessed with Norman. Maureen was a neurotic psychologist who had come to the motel to replace Dr. Raymond from the previous film. Pogue had intended to cast original victim Janet Leigh in the role. Universal rejected these ideas, arguing that Bates had to be the killer and Leigh was wrong for the film. However, Maureen's actions remained virtually unchanged; her character was merely changed to a young nun. After the second draft of the screenplay was completed, it was sent to Perkins as an acting job. After Perkins read the script, he wanted to direct the film, saying he would do it for nothing. Universal agreed to this. When the film went into pre production, Anthony Perkins asked Psycho II director Richard Franklin to co direct the film with him, but Franklin declined. Filming for Psycho III began in June 1985. Perkins' main inspiration for the style of this film came from the movie Blood Simple directed by the Coen brothers. Before production began, he even took the entire cast and crew to a screening of the film. Like the two previous films, it was mostly shot on the backlot of Universal and in a number of sound stages. Despite Psycho III being Perkins' film directorial debut, the cast and crew have said in interviews that he was enjoyable to work with. Lee Garlington, who played the waitress Myrna, commented: "I have never to this date met a director who worked equally well with both the cast and crew. He was excited to be doing it, I adored him". During filming, actor Jeff Fahey suffered an on set injury. When filming the scene where Norman is hitting Duke with the guitar, Anthony Perkins actually hit Jeff Fahey so hard that it cut his head open and he had to get six stitches. A shot of Fahey's actual injury was used in the final film. Universal originally wanted to release the film in February 1986 but the release was moved to July 2 due to various re shoots that included the ending. Psycho III was released on July 2, 1986, to a mixed response from critics and financial failure. It earned $3,238,400 in its opening weekend and went on to gross about $14,481,606 at the domestic box office, becoming the lowest grossing theatrical film of the Psycho movie franchise. With the financial failure of Psycho III, Universal decided to continue the Psycho franchise as a television series, Bates Motel, taking inspiration from the Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street TV series. In this televised spin off of Psycho, Norman Bates is portrayed by Kurt Paul, who previously stood in as a stunt double for Anthony Perkins in Psycho II and III. Perkins declined involvement in the project and even heavily boycotted it. The film was made as a pilot for a weekly anthology television series, but the series was never picked up. Thus, Universal decided to air the pilot as a made for TV film over the 4th of July weekend. The film received mostly negative reviews and low Nielson ratings. A year after Bates Motel aired, production on Psycho IV: The Beginning began. Perkins wanted to direct the film and even came up with a pitch for the film along with Psycho III screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue; however, Psycho III was a critical and financial failure, so Universal rejected that idea and Mick Garris was brought in. Joseph Stefano was the screenwriter of the original film and was brought back to write the fourth film. He had disliked the two films between I and IV, feeling that they were too commercial and catered to the conventions of slasher movies. In an interview, Stefano said: "Gearing up for Psycho IV, I decided to ignore the two sequels – like the business in II about Norman's mother". Actress Olivia Hussey was directly offered the role of Mrs. Bates. It was the intention of writer Joseph Stefano to make her at a young age as attractive as Norman had been in the first film. When Henry Thomas was cast as young Norman Bates, Perkins wanted to meet with him and discuss the role. In the documentary The Psycho Legacy, Thomas stated: "Looking back on it now, he knew he had to have this conversation with me but I don't think that he was really into it. He just gave me a few broad strokes and told me to play the character real, that was it". During filming, Perkins had been diagnosed with HIV and had to receive treatment during production. Director Mick Garris has stated in numerous interviews that he had some creative control issues with Perkins. According to Garris: "He would get into long, drawn out discussions in front of the crew, testing his director, making sure choices were not made "because it looks good", and seeing how deep the understanding of the story and process were. He could be very forceful, just shy of bullying, but also really appreciated helpful direction. I would have to say he was the most difficult and challenging actor I've ever worked with, but he ended up going on and on about how happy he was with the film. That was gratifying". Psycho IV: The Beginning was filmed at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida from June 4 to July 13, 1990. The facade of the Bates Motel and the Bates mansion were re created at the theme park. The production was originally to be filmed before the opening of the park but due to delays and the studio's desire to have a high profile production on the lot, the film was shot while the park was open. This led to tourists being able to watch the filming of several scenes at the motel and house on the back lot. The film received mixed reviews when first broadcast on Showtime. Henry Stewart of L Magazine said: "Garris evinces high grade professionalism, but his comic book approximations of real emotions—like desire, madness and murderlust—feel empty. Hitchcock this most certainly ain't". Ninja Dixon. com wrote: "This is a good TV movie, way better than reputation, and continues the tradition of great acting in the series". Cult Reviews. com said: "The film is shot well, the fire sequence, by Rodney Charters, is particularly stunning. The only real trouble with this film is the bad writing, which, considering that it was the baby of the scriptwriter of the original, Joseph Stefano, is very disappointing indeed". Matt Poirier of Direct to Video Connoisseur. com wrote: "This was a pretty unmemorable movie. It tried to make references to the original, like one where Perkins cuts his thumb, and the blood going into the drain mimics the blood in the famous shower scene. Way too obvious and pretty obnoxious". Despite some negative reviews, the film received high Nielson ratings with around 10 million viewers watching the premiere. In 1998, Universal made a remake of Psycho, with Gus Van Sant as a director. The audio commentary track that accompanies the DVD release of the film, and the "making of" documentary (Psycho Path) that the DVD includes, provide numerous details about where the film strived to remain faithful to the original, and where it diverged. Some changes are pervasive: as the film opens, it is made clear that it is set in the late 1990s, so minor changes are made throughout the dialogue to reflect the new timeframe. For example, all the references to money are updated (how much Marion Crane steals, how much a car costs, how much a hotel room costs), as are references to terms from the original script like "aspic" that would seem anachronistic in the new setting. According to Van Sant, in the original the only fully fleshed out character was Norman Bates; the other major characters were more iconic, purposely written and portrayed to advance the plot. Van Sant relied upon his main cast more to flesh out and make consistent their character's motivations and worked with them to determine to what degree their characters were similar to the originals. William H. Macy chose to stay true to the original, while others, such as Vaughn and Julianne Moore, interpreted the dialogue and scenes from the original film differently. Moore's version of Lila Crane was much more aggressive than the one portrayed by Vera Miles, and there are differences in Marion Crane's evolving attitudes about the money she stole. The cinematography and cinematic techniques were consistent between the two films in many memorable scenes, including the shower scene, scenes of the mother, scenes of the swamp, and the scene of Arbogast on the staircase, but other scenes changed significantly, particularly the climax, and the Dr. Simon monologue at the end, which was much shorter. Van Sant's comments from the commentary track attributes many of the updates to the need to make the film more accessible to a new audience. The film earned $37,141,130 at the box office, $21,456,130 of which came from North America. Estimates of the production budget range from $20 million to $60 million;

This version of Psycho received mostly negative reviews; it was awarded two Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Director for Gus Van Sant, while Anne Heche was nominated as Worst Actress. Camille Paglia commented that the only reason to watch it was "to see Anne Heche being assassinated", but that "it should have been a much more important work and event than it was". A number of critics and writers viewed Van Sant's version more as an experiment in shot for shot remakes. Many people refer to this film as a duplicate of the 1960 film rather than a remake. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the film "demonstrates that a shot by shot remake is pointless; genius apparently resides between or beneath the shots, or in chemistry that cannot be timed or counted". Screenwriter Joseph Stefano, who worked on the 1960 version, thought that although she spoke the same lines, Anne Heche portrays Marion Crane as an entirely different character. Even Van Sant admitted that it was an experiment that proved that no one can really copy a film exactly the same way as the original. Janet Maslin gave the film a positive review, calling it an "artful, good looking remake (a modest term, but it beats plagiarism) that shrewdly revitalizes the aspects of the real Psycho (1960) that it follows most faithfully but seldom diverges seriously or successfully from one of the cinema's most brilliant blueprints"; she noted that the "absence of anything like Anthony Perkins's sensational performance with that vitally birdlike presence and sneaky way with a double entendre ("A boy's best friend is his mother") is the new film's greatest weakness". Critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a rating of one out of four stars, or "BOMB" compared to the four stars he gave the original. He describes it as a "slow, stilted, completely pointless scene for scene remake of the Hitchcock classic (with a few awkward new touches to taint its claim as an exact replica)". He ultimately calls it "an insult, rather than a tribute to a landmark film".

While Bates Motel (1987) was a partial continuation of the series as it continued from where Psycho left off, it ignored the continuity of Psycho II, Psycho III, and Psycho IV: The Beginning due to the death of Norman Bates in the film and the fact that Bates is deemed sane and returns to the Bates Motel in Psycho II. Psycho (1998), a shot for shot remake of the first film is not a sequel since it retells the same events as the original film, but set in 1998. There are also some continuity problems in Psycho IV: The Beginning that have to do with some of the past events explored in Psycho, Psycho II, and Psycho III. Reflecting on the continuity issues, Robert Price writes: "It seems that all the different Psychos drift into and out of one another. There is no real sequence. All are variant versions of the same myth. The deep conflict being rehearsed and resolved in these movies is that of the Oedipal complex".

Film U. S. release date Budget Box office revenue United States International Worldwide Psycho June 16, 1960 $806,947 $32,000,000 $32,000,000 Psycho II June 3, 1983 $5,000,000 $34,725,000 $34,725,000 Psycho III July 2, 1986 $8,400,000 $14,481,606 $14,481,606 Bates Motel July 5, 1987 Psycho IV: The Beginning November 10, 1990 $4,000,000 Psycho December 4, 1998 $60,000,000 $21,485,655 $15,685,000 $37,170,655 Total $78,206,947 $102,692,261 $15,685,000 $118,377,261

In 1960, Psycho received four Academy Award nominations: Best Director for Alfred Hitchcock, Best Supporting Actress for Janet Leigh, Best Cinematography for John L. Russell and Best Art Direction for Joseph Hurley, Robert Clatworthy and George Milo. All three sequels have been nominated for Saturn Awards: Psycho II for Best Supporting Actress (Meg Tilly); Psycho III for Best Horror Film and Best Actor (Anthony Perkins); and Psycho IV: The Beginning for Best Genre Television Series.

Psycho has become one of the most recognizable films ever made. The shower scene alone has become one of the most iconic cut scenes in cinematic history. In 2000, The Guardian ranked the shower scene at No. 2 on their list of "The top 10 film moments". Psycho is frequently referenced, given homage to or spoofed in television shows such as The Simpsons (see Treehouse of Horror XX), South Park, American Dad!, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Maude, The Golden Girls and more. Films such as Scream 2, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Throw Momma from the Train, Scary Movie and more have referenced the film. Many critics and filmmakers have cited Psycho as the film that modernized the horror genre. Horror writer David. J. Schow stated in The Psycho Legacy: "It brought the idea that the killer in a horror film was not a mutant, didn't have dents in his head; he could look like that nice young boy from next door". The film also brought in a new level of acceptable violence and sexuality in movies. Psycho is considered by some to be the first film in the slasher film genre. In 2010, The Guardian newspaper ranked it as "the best horror film of all time". In 2021, Psycho was ranked at No. 5 by Time Out on their list of "The 100 best horror movies". Both Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh spent the rest of their careers being typecasted by the film. Even Alfred Hitchcock's films began to decline in critical and financial popularity after the release of Psycho. Hitchcock film scholars argue that for the rest of his career, Hitchcock's films were constantly being compared to Psycho. The "Psycho" films still maintain a very large fanbase. Various websites dedicated to the franchise such as The Psycho Movies. com have appeared on the internet. Books detailing the making and impact of the film such as Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, The Moment of Psycho, Janet Leigh's Psycho: Behind The Scenes of the Classic Thriller have been published over the years. Two retrospective documentaries have been released detailing the making of all four films including The Making of Psycho (1997) and The Psycho Legacy (2010). The film also spawned the show Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies at Universal Studios Florida, with part of the show detailing how the shower scene was filmed. In 1992, Psycho was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. A musical stage adaptation from Neil Diamond, Psycho: The Musical, was performed from January 25 to February 9, 2019, at PULP Black Box Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

Various Psycho related merchandise has been sold ever since the release of the original film. Merchandise includes T shirts, posters, DVDs, books, stationery, shot glasses, shower curtains, action figures, model house kits, pens and more. Much of the merchandise is related to the fictional Bates Motel where items commonly found in an actual motel have the Bates Motel logo on them. A Bates Motel light up sign was released in 2009. To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of the original film, a Psycho house model kit was released in the U. S. Props from all the films are also sold occasionally on eBay. The original one sheet poster for Psycho is worth around $3000 in mint condition. The original one sheets for Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning are worth around $50 each.

In 1992, a series of graphic novels based on the original Psycho was published by the Innovation Comics group. Today, the novels are out of print and are very rare to find.

A horror adventure game with a key driven verb interface vaguely based on the same named film by Alfred Hitchcock for Commodore 64, DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST was released in 1988.

The Bates House and Motel were constructed on the backlot at Universal City Studios in 1959 for the production of Psycho. It has been said that the house, designed by art directors Joseph Hurley and Robert Clathworthy, was loosely based on an Edward Hopper painting called "House by the Railroad". The house and motel sets were actually empty shells, also known as facades. When the house was originally built, there was no right side of the house, since the right side is never seen on camera in the original Psycho film. Interiors of the Bates house and motel were constructed on Sound stage 18 A at Universal, just a short walk from the actual exterior locations making production convenient for all involved. After production had wrapped on Psycho, the house was featured in several television productions including The Virginian, Wagon Train and Boris Karloff's Thriller. In 1964, Universal Studios opened its patented Studio Tram Tour. The right side of the house was then added and the set was unceremoniously dubbed "The Psycho House". The house and even the motel went on to appear in several shows such as Night Gallery, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries and even in films such as Invitation to a Gunfighter and Modern Problems. The motel was torn down in 1979 and the house was moved to an alternate location on the backlot to accommodate the new tour. In 1982, Richard Franklin and Hilton A. Green announced plans to film Psycho II. The house was then moved to a location that best matched the original hill and only about 40 feet of the motel was actually re built. The rest of the motel in the film was a matte painting. TV shows during the '80s promoted the Universal Tour and prominently featured the Psycho House including Amazing Stories, Knight Rider and Diff'rent Strokes. In 1985, the Bates Motel was fully re built for the filming of Psycho III. In 1987, the NBC TV network announced plans for the TV pilot Bates Motel. The motel in the film was re modeled to look very Spanish like. This version of the set remained until 1994 when the new renovations were taken away and the motel was put back to look the way it did in the original Psycho. A 1992 episode of Murder, She Wrote called "Incident in Lot 7" featured the Psycho House and Bates Motel as key locations in the popular Angela Lansbury series. In 1988, plans for Psycho IV: The Beginning were underway at Universal. Plans to shoot the film in Orlando, Florida were set into motion and the film crew constructed a full scale replica of the Bates Motel and Psycho House at the soon to be built Universal Studios Florida. The final dressing and painting was done by the art department crew in 1990, but the house and motel was fully built in 1988 long before the production team was assembled for the project. After production wrapped, the sets were left as attractions at the park until 1999 when it was torn down to make room for another attraction. In 1998, the Psycho House in California was renovated to preserve the set. All of the rotting wood was replaced and the set had a new paint job. That same year, plans to remake Psycho were announced. It was originally announced that Gus Van Sant was going to be using the original house and motel sets, but the production team built a new house directly in front of the old one, and the motel was updated to look like it was from the 1960s. The new house was moved next to the original house and remained there for about three years after production. In 2003, due to popular demand, the remake's house was torn down and the motel was restored to the original way once again. To this day, the house and motel are still standing on the backlot of Universal and continue to be major tourist attractions. The tram tour features an actor playing Norman Bates coming out of cabin 1 with a body, putting it in the trunk of a car and then wielding a large knife at the tourists as the tram drives away.

An art installation, 24 Hour Psycho, created by artist Douglas Gordon in 1993, and later installed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, consists of a silent screening of Psycho, slowed down to two frames per second (from the usual 24), so that it lasts 24 hours rather than 109 minutes. 24 Hour Psycho is featured prominently in Don DeLillo's 2010 novel Point Omega.

In 2010, a direct to DVD documentary was released called The Psycho Legacy. It included interviews with cast and crew from all four Psycho films. It also featured interviews with current horror filmmakers who are fans of the series. The documentary was written, produced and directed by horror journalist Robert Galluzzo. Galluzo made the documentary because of the lack of information on the sequels and also to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the original film. The documentary discussed the impact and legacy of the original Psycho and the production stories of Psycho II, Psycho III and Psycho IV: The Beginning. To the surprise of some critics and fans, the failed TV pilot Bates Motel and the Gus Van Sant remake were not discussed in the documentary; originally in the deleted scenes section on the DVD two short segments on the two films were supposed to be on there, but for unknown reasons they were left off of the DVD when it was released. The documentary sold well, received mostly positive reviews and garnered new interest in the series from horror fans.

A film adaptation of Stephen Rebello's non fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, which follows the complex relationship between Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville during the filming of Psycho in 1959 was made. The film is directed by Sacha Gervasi and stars Anthony Hopkins as director Alfred Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville, Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, and James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins. Produced by The Montecito Picture Company and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, the film was released on November 23, 2012, in selected cities with a worldwide release on December 14. The film has received mixed reviews from critics and moderate box office returns, with a worldwide gross of $5,337,378 as of January 2013.

A documentary examination of the Psycho shower scene was released on October 13, 2017, by director Alexandre O. Philippe running 91 minutes. The cast of participants included Guillermo del Toro, Peter Bogdanovich, Bret Easton Ellis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Karyn Kusama, Eli Roth, Oz Perkins, Leigh Whannell, Walter Murch, Danny Elfman, Elijah Wood, Richard Stanley and Neil Marshall.