As Oscar-winner “L.A. Confidential” closes in on its 25th anniversary next year, the film’s writer Brian Helgeland has revealed that several years ago he had a great idea for a sequel.
Speaking with The Ringer recently, Helgeland said a few years ago he worked on a new story for a sequel and with the help of celebrated author James Ellroy (who penned the novel the original is based on).
The 1970s set follow-up was good enough that he got original co-stars Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce onboard while he managed to get the late Chadwick Boseman involved to play a young cop. Helgeland wrote the baseball film “42” which helped the future “Black Panther” actor breakthrough.
However it all had to be scrapped after the studio turned him down: “We worked the whole thing out. It was great. And Warners passed.” Why Warners passed is unclear and sadly Helgeland didn’t elaborate.
This marks the second time Warners has skipped having another go at “L.A. Confidential” as a TV series in 2019. A well-received pilot was shot which saw Mark Webber and Brian J. Smith in the Crowe and Pearce roles respectively along with Walton Goggins, Dominic Burgess, Sarah Jones, Shea Whigham, Tony Curran, Devon Graye and Drew Powell. Sadly it was never picked up to series.
