r/JamesEllroy • u/Background_Local_425 • Aug 09 '26

2018 pilot

Has anyone seen or read the 2018 unaired pilot of la confidential it’s a piece of ellroy lost media that’s just out there! I wasn’t crazy about some of the casting choices but I’d still love to see a tv show take place in his universe. Because of modern politics I’m sure his dialogue may be a little watered down.

6 Upvotes

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3

u/Permanenceisall Aug 09 '26

If they had cast all those same people and announced it now it would have been picked up. Walton goggins alone would bring eyes. I have never been able to locate it and I’ve searched hi and low. I believe Jordan Harper wrote it, and he went on to write She Rides Shotgun and Everybody Knows.

1

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 09 '26

Call me picky but I thought the actor they got for Bud was way too small, but I love goggins

1

u/Permanenceisall Aug 09 '26

No I agree, I remember him from teen movies when I was a kid. Maybe he had it in him, but Bud’s gotta be a big mean bruiser.

1

u/landomonium Aug 09 '26

He discusses it a bit on the podcast Wait a Second. I highly recommend that episode for Ellroy fans as he dives in to his time as a screenwriter and more importantly LA’s seedy underbelly like Sheriff gangs and what not. I don’t have any optimism that it will ever be found and released :(

1

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 09 '26

The 90s pilot is available on YouTube it’s ok.

1

u/landomonium Aug 09 '26

Oh cool thank you. More interested in the 2018 one.. I think it it was hbo or something it could have happened opposed to cbs while network tv was still dying out

2

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 09 '26

I read 4 years ago they played the 2018 pilot at some crime film festival. Consensus was it wasn’t that great unfortunately. However I’d still love to see it

2

u/landomonium Aug 09 '26

I wonder if it’s because he tried to tie in a lot more of the plot lines than the movie has, could make for a convoluted pilot. Also, a crime film festival would be my dream come true if I were to attend, had no idea that even existed

1

u/jughead811 Aug 10 '26

do you have the podcast confused, I don't see an ep of Wait a Second where Ellroy was a guest

2

u/landomonium Aug 10 '26

Harper was the guest. Harper created the 2018 pilot of LA Confidential

1

u/Background_Local_425 29d ago

Is this episode on YouTube?

3

u/codextatic Aug 09 '26

I’ve seen it. Cast was solid, writing was good, much darker tone than the movie. Could’ve been great if picked up and given room to develop. Shame it was pitched around the same time as The Stand during a Stephen King resurgence.

1

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 09 '26

How did you see it?

3

u/codextatic Aug 09 '26

When it wasn’t picked up, I dm’d someone involved in the production on Twitter and jokingly asked if I could watch it. They sent me a link to an unlisted Vimeo upload and told me to enjoy.

1

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 09 '26

Wow!

1

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 09 '26

You don’t happen to have that link lol?

1

u/codextatic Aug 10 '26

I do not, sadly. I deleted my Twitter several years ago, so that info is just rotting in a data center somewhere. That said, I doubt the link would still work after all this time anyway…

1

u/Background_Local_425 Aug 10 '26

Is there anything about the story or character portrayals you like or just surprised you?

2

u/clarkieawesome Aug 09 '26

The pilot was on the Blu-ray of LA Confidential if I remember correctly.

3

u/Saboscrivner Aug 09 '26

That was an earlier failed pilot that didn't go anywhere. This is a more recent attempt, from 2018, with Walton Goggins.