LA Confidential not picked up by CBS for full series

One of the more intriguing projects in the pipeline was CBS’s reworking of James Ellroy’s for-the-ages crime novel, LA Confidential.

Already an Oscar-winning film, the series was to be, according to Variety, a “modern take on James Ellroy’s novel — which was the basis of the 1997 feature film. In it the paths of three homicide detectives, a female reporter, and an up-and-coming actress intersect while the detectives pursue a sadistic serial killer among the secrets and lies of gritty, glamorous 1950s Los Angeles. Jordan Harper is writing and serves as executive producer alongside Arnon Milchan.”

It was always one of those projects that made you think, “do we need another adaptation of LA Confidential?” and we billed it as a must-see only because of the incredibly strong source material and the intriguing nature of it.

However, the news is that CBS has, despite everyone being impressed with the pilot, not picked it up for a full series run. The channel’s reboot of Cagney & Lacey has also not been picked up for a series run. (Good.)

Deadline reports that:

It’s a project that drew the same reaction throughout pilot season – from script stage to network screenings – it’s a great show but does it belong on CBS? (CBS in 2012 took a chance with a period crime drama, Vegas, which only lasted one season.) Because of that, from the get-go there has been speculation that LA Confidential could go to CBS’ streaming sibling CBS All Access.

LA Confidential was one of the best received pilots at CBS this season, described as beautifully shot with premium quality that could work on a streaming platform.

So the show may still have a life on a streaming network, whether it be the network’s very own service or something like Netflix.

More news as we get it.