Bret Easton Ellis Adaptation The Informers Loses Entire Vampire Sub-Plot With Brandon Routh?

Compared to most authors, onetime New York it-boy Bret Easton Ellis's works have had a pretty good translation record at the cinema. American Psycho, The Rules of Attraction and Less Than Zero were all pretty faithful, quality adaptations that kept Ellis's sensational penchant for drugs, kinky sex and sociopathic detachment intact. A tall order these days. Next in line is this fall's The Informers. Not only did Ellis co-write the screenplay for his 1995 interlocked collection of twisted tales set in the '80s, but the film easily has the coolest cast of any Ellis flick: Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder, Billy Bob Thornton, Pineapple Express' Amber Heard and Brad Renfro's last theatrical role.

Well, now it seems that the key element that made The Informers stand out from its darkly hedonistic pack, a good dose of the supernatural, including a vampire storyline starring Superman Returns' Brandon Routh as the book's main vampire, Jamie, has either been "exorcised" or dumped altogether. Odd. Actor John Graham, who has a rather large role as the son to Thornton's Hollywood exec, expressed dissonance about the film's seemingly last minute change to IGN...

"There are no more vampires. They took the vampires out. There are no zombies or monsters either," he announces. "This is more about the narcissistic side of people's characters. God knows why they took the vampire characters out. I can't say if I was pleased or displeased, that is just the way it is."

Sounds as if Routh is no longer in the film, eh? If so, that's a pretty big blow for him, as it would have given the All-American actor a dose of indie cred. There's speculation that Ellis himself made the decision to ditch the fanged murderers from the film version due to criticism the book's subplot received originally. Ho-hum. Fans will be bummed. Has to be more to it than that though, right? Perhaps director Gregor Jordan (Buffalo Soldiers, Ned Kelly) wasn't digging the footage? If anyone has a contact or, cough, informant on this film, let us know.

Ellis is really starting to dive into Hollywood, with an adaptation of his batshit semi-autobiographical Lunar Park due in 2009, along with The Frog King, another writer-obsessed flick starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt that he wrote an original screenplay for. Also kicking around is Roger Avary's third (yes, third) adaptation Glamorama, which would follow The Rules of Attraction and its obscure, never released, mysterious spin-off film Glitterati starring Kip Pardue.

Discuss: Any Informers fans pissed? We haven't heard much from this flick as of yet, but how many of you anticipate it? Who's seen Glitterati? What's the best Ellis movie?