Twenty years after playing ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street", Michael Douglas is to star in a sequel to the tale of yuppie greed and excess, this time set in the hedge fund era.

Edward Pressman, who produced the original movie, reached an agreement with the 20th Century Fox studio last week to develop the movie, which is to be entitled "Money Never Sleeps," the New York Times reported.

Douglas, 62, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of stockbroker Gekko grooming protege Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen, in the 1987 film, told the newspaper that Gekko's character was largely unchanged.

"I don't think he's much different," Douglas told the newspaper. "He's just had more time to think about what to do."

Pressman declined to give details on the plot, other than to say Gekko was now working on a global scale in the hedge-fund era.

The original "Wall Street" director Oliver Stone would not be making the sequel, Pressman said, while character Bud Fox would also likely not appear in the new film.

Although "Wall Street" found only modest success at the box office when it first came out, it went on to find a cult following in the financial world, especially for Gekko's quips such as "lunch is for wimps" and "greed is good."

Douglas told the newspaper he would be quite happy if he never