THR is reporting that The Walking Dead and Paper Towns actor Austin Abrams has been cast as the lead in Less Than Zero, a new TV adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ 1985 novel.
The project, which has a pilot order from Hulu, is being written by Craig Wright (Greenleaf), who produces with Ellis, and will see Abrams as Clay, a college freshman who returns home for Christmas to spend time with his ex-girlfriend Blair and his friend Julian, who struggles with addiction. Clay’s holiday turns into a dizzying spiral of desperation that takes him through the relentless parties in glitzy mansions, seedy bars, and underground rock clubs and also into the seamy world of L.A. after dark.
Less Than Zero was previously adapted for the big screen in 1987, with Andrew McCarthy starring as Clay alongside Jami Gertz, Robert Downey, Jr. and James Spader.