Scoffing in the face of history – a pilot for a series based on the movie infamously failed to take off and was banished to a special feature on a later DVD release – the new TV series based on L.A. Confidential is moving forward. Walton Goggins is the first actor cast in the new pilot.
The 1997 film adapted James Ellroy's crime classic, originally published in 1990 as the third part of his L.A. Quartet series of novels. Co-writer/director Curtis Hanson brought to life the seedy underbelly of glamorous 1950s Los Angeles as three homicide detectives, a reporter and an actress find themselves on a collision course. The result scored nine Oscar nominations and walked away with Best Supporting Actress for Kim Basinger and Best Adapted Screenplay for Hanson and and co-writer Brian Helgeland.
Goggins is playing Jack Vincennes (the character portrayed in the film by Kevin Spacey), a detective with the flash and swagger of the movie stars he often hangs around with. A man who knows how the system works, he's not above some corrupt shakedowns.
Jordan Harper wrote the pilot and will be running the show if it makes it to air. He will be joined by Anna Fricke, a veteran of the US version of Being Human on the creative team. No one knows if the show can get close to the quality of the award-winning film, but Goggins' casting is a good first step. He'll next show up in Tomb Raider, which is headed our way on 16 March.
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