Psycho (Handout)

TV bosses in America are on the hunt for a new Norman Bates to lead a small screen series based on Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror movie Psycho.

Executives at U.S. network A&E are working on a 10-episode show which will act as a prequel to the iconic 1960 film, which starred Anthony Perkins as deranged killer Bates.

The series will be titled Bates Motel and will tell the story leading up to the Hitchcock movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Casting is set to begin immediately and the show is due to premiere in the U.S. next year.

It follows several previous attempts to revive Psycho - including a 1990 TV movie called Psycho IV: The Beginning and another small screen show called Bates Motel in 1987 - and a movie about the making of the film, starring Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel, is also in the works.