 In May 2010 , when MTV News first announced that Ellis had finished writing Imperial Bedrooms , the writer told them in interview that he had begun looking ahead to the possibility of a film adaptation , and felt that interpreting it as a sequel to the 1987 movie adaptation starring Andrew McCarthy , Robert Downey Jr . , James Spader and Jami Gertz " would be a great idea " . Two months prior to the book 's release , Less Than Zero actor Andrew McCarthy stated it was " early days " in thinking about a potential film adaptation ; McCarthy felt , however , that the novel would adapt well . Because the characters in Imperial Bedrooms have been owned by 20th Century Fox since Ellis sold the film rights to Less Than Zero , prospective film for Imperial Bedrooms rights revert to Fox . Ellis stated to Vice in June 2010 that he would be interested in writing the screenplay . In July 2010 however , the author clarified to California Chronicle , saying " There 's no deal , there 's no one attached . There 's been some vague talk among the cast members ... As far as I know right now nothing 's happening . " Ellis opines that were Robert Downey Jr. to get involved , the film would move straight into production . However , remembering the adaptation process Less Than Zero went through , he admits " I 've learned to be cautious about saying oh they 'll never turn this dark depraved character into any sort of interesting Mulholland Drive , David Lynch kind of movie , but I could be totally wrong about that . I don 't know . " 
