Given that author Bret Easton Ellis was notoriously disappointed by all the casting for the movie version of his book Less Than Zero, it’s rather fascinating that he’s already discussing with MTV his interest in seeing the original cast of “Less Than Zero” the movie reunited for the possible adaptation of his forthcoming sequel novel Imperial Bedrooms. Clearly his sentimentality for the hedonistic ’80s of his youth has ratcheted up as he’s gotten older. So much so that now he wants even the conspicuously non-blonde L.A. heroes played by Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz reprised in their middle years. Obviously, Ellis wouldn’t object if they brought back Robert Downey, Jr. and James Spader also, so at least someone would be acting. He tells MTV all of the main characters from Less Than Zero somehow managed to make it through their 20s, dodging deathly drug overdoses, and live on in Imperial Bedrooms.
So how likely is it? Well, at this point each and every one of Ellis’s novels have been adapted for the screen, save the almost impossible to adapt Glamorama – there’s a working script being developed for Lunar Park as you read this that’s already been optioned. And ’80s remakes are hot with Hollywood right now – everything from “Footloose” to “Tron” to “The Goonies” have been discussed, so hey why the hell not jump on board with an ’80s sequel for Gen X.
On the downside, RDJ pretty much blames his role in “Less Than Zero” for helping him become a serious addict and may not want to revisit. Ellis tells MTV that the old Julian, Downey’s role, is “sober but fragile” so…maybe?
At the end of the day, this all reeks of a terrible idea considering that the ’80s version of the movie was so twisted into an anti-drug message and important characters were all but lost – unless, of course, Ellis has written his new novel based more on the movie than on the book. In which case it’s a doubly sucky idea.