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In theory, if somebody presented a streaming service with the chance to develop a sequel to one of the greatest crime thrillers of all-time – one that nabbed two Academy Award wins from nine nominations in total including Best Picture and Best Director – then you’d think hands would be bitten off in record time. Instead, Netflix couldn’t even stay awake during the pitch for L.A. Confidential 2.
If that wasn’t egregious enough, writer Brian Helgeland – who won one of those Oscars for penning the screenplay – revealed that as well as having Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce return from the original, Chadwick Boseman was also being lined up to star as a rookie detective drawn into Los Angeles’ seedy underbelly of criminal corruption.
And yet, despite having as close to an on-demand slam dunk as you’ll find placed right in front of them, he revealed to Deadline that the boardroom opted to simply catch a few winks instead.
“[Author] James Ellroy and I worked out an elaborate pitch for L.A. Confidential 2 that takes place during the Patty Hearst [era], when the Symbionese Liberation Army came down to L.A., and we had Guy Pearce attached and Russell and Chadwick Boseman playing a young cop working for Mayor Bradley. We pitched it everywhere…We had to go to Warner Bros. first and Warner Bros. is like we don’t make movies like this. Ellroy is a performance artist and he would do the pitch, and it was the most amazing pitch. Our executive at Netflix fell asleep during the pitch. They fell asleep and nodded off during the pitch. I got home, and was like, ‘We can’t do that anymore.’”
As happy as Netflix is to churn out a never-ending stream of disappointing, underwhelming, and outright interminable Hollywood star vehicles, the thought of even staying awake to hear the pitch to L.A. Confidential 2 never even so much as crossed the collective mind of its executive team. And that, people, is why we can’t have nice things.