We know what Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader are doing, and a quick trip to the IMDB indicates that Andrew McCarthy is still working, and Jami Gertz had a picture out as recently as ‘07. Perhaps the idea of rounding them all up for a Less than Zero sequel isn’t as crazy as I first assumed…

The idea comes from Brett Easton Ellis who is now finishing up said sequel, in novel form. He tells MTV that such a film “would be a great idea”.

The original Less than Zero revolves around Clay Easton, played in the picture by Andrew McCarthy, while Downey played his close-at-hand compadre in all manner of substance abuse and abandon. That Easton surname is not, I’m sure you’ve realised, a coincidence. The sequel is going to be called Imperial Bedrooms which, like the originals handle, comes from the Elvis Costello songbook.

Of this new volume, Ellis says:

It’s in present-day. You’ll find out where all the characters from the book have now ended up, for better or for worse.

He explains that the leads have all survived the 20-some years since the last installment, though some of the supporting characters have not.

After Lunar Park, Ellis’ last novel, took fantasy, nightmares and the author’s life and made them all do cartwheels into and through one another, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Downey’s real life misdemeanours and misadventure have been folded into the fictional life of Julian Wells. Ellis says:

His character in the book is sober. Fragile, but sober.

Okay… I don’t know about fragile. Then again, we don’t really yet know what he means by fragile.

Should such a film adaptation ever go ahead, Ellis provides some indication of the studio that would be in charge:

Now that I’m finally done with the book I’m thinking ‘God, what if Fox wants to do this as a film?’ Because Fox did the original and I think there’s a rights issue involved.