CBS has put in development L.A. Confidential, a drama based on James Ellroy’s noir classic novel. It’s from Arnon Milchan, who produced the acclaimed 1997 movie, and his New Regency, writer-producer Jordan Harper (Gotham), Lionsgate Television and CBS Television Studios.

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Written by Harper, L.A. Confidential follows three homicide detectives, a female reporter and a Hollywood actress whose paths intersect as the detectives pursue a sadistic serial killer through the seedy underbelly of glamorous 1950s Los Angeles. Harper executive produces with Milchan. The project hails from the TV venture New Regency forged with Lionsgate, designed to mine New Regency’s library. With the project landing at CBS, sibling CBS TV Studios has come on board to co-produce.

L.A. Confidential is the third of Ellroy’s L.A. Quartet book series. The novel was adapted for the 1997 film, directed and co-written by Curtis Hanson, produced by Milchan and starring Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, David Strathairn and Danny DeVito. The film premiered in Competition at Cannes and went on to receive nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, winning Best Supporting Actress for Basinger and Best Adapted Screenplay for Hanson and Brian Helgeland.

In addition to L.A. Confidential, Milchan also was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar as producer on The Revenant, which earned Leonardo DiCaprio the Best Actor Oscar and Alejandro G. Iñárritu Best Director. His producer credits include Brazil, Once Upon a Time in America, The King of Comedy, Fight Club, 12 Years a Slave, Birdman and The Big Short.

Harper also worked on the Bruno Heller-created CBS procedural drama series The Mentalist. He will also be adapting his novel “She Rides Shotgun,” which was released in June 2017, for a motion picture that has been optioned by Parkes+MacDonald.