Editorial Staff
The forecast for Hulu? A Hazy Shade of Winter lies ahead.
The subscription service today announced a small-screen take on Bret Easton Ellis’s hip novel “Less Than Zero”. Though birthed as a book, “Zero” might be better remembered as a film (which is where the ‘Hazy Shade’ reference comes in – that was the name of the title track from the film, performed by ‘80s popstresses The Bangles) starring Andrew McCarthy, Jami Gertz, Robert Downey Jr., and James Spader. Ellis wasn’t a big fan of the film upon it’s initial release – in 1987 – but warmed up to it as the years went on.
The book and film follow a college freshman returning home for Christmas to spend time with his ex-girlfriend and his friend who struggles with addiction. It’s all about the well-heeled, degenerate youth of L.A.
Here’s a refresher for those born after 1990 :
Ellis hasn’t been happy with a couple of the adaptations of his novels so no surprise to see him attached as an EP on the new series. The “Rules of Attraction” author will produce alongside Craig Wright (who has done some quality stuff, namely “The United States of Tara”), who will also write the show, and Fox 21 Television Studios.
Though there have been features made of Ellis’s books (“American Psycho”, “Rules of Attraction”, “The Informers”), If this gets the go-ahead, “Less than Zero” would be the first series adaptation of an Ellis novel.
Fans of the author will recall a sequel, in literary form, called “Imperial Bedrooms” which centered on Clay (McCarthy’s character in the film), now a New York-based screenwriter, after he returns to Los Angeles to cast his new film. Ellis – and even some of the actors from the original film, including McCarthy – had expressed interest in bringing the book to film but it didn’t get much further than chatter amongst the original cast and crew.
