Someone To Confide In

Off of last week's news that a sequel to L.A. Confidential is in the pipeline...

Stax of IGN reports that it's forced one filmmaker back to make a few changes, as he considers how 2008's White Jazz, fits into the scheme of things.

Director Joe Carnahan is retooling his planned big-screen adaptation of James Ellroy's noir novel White Jazz in light of the sequel to L.A. Confidential that is in the works. One major change will be that the character of Ed Exley -- the ambitious LAPD detective played by Guy Pearce in Confidential and who is a character in Ellroy's novel White Jazz -- will have to be renamed for Carnahan's film.

"I had heard about (the L.A. Confidential sequel) a few months back as we had just closed our deal for White Jazz," Carnahan explained in a recent posting at his blog:

"Ellroy and I actually spoke about it because they had asked him back into the loop to work on that script. As far as I know, they are pushing ahead and have asked us to change the Exley character's name in White Jazz as New Regency apparently has the right." Thus, no Guy Pearce for White Jazz.

Carnahan continued, "Those familiar with the book also know that 'The Dud' Dudley Smith is also featured prominently in it. We took the original L.A. Confidential into account when writing White Jazz so we opted to remove him from the story. Now that Exley looks like he's out, it will really eliminate any incidental characters from White Jazz and allow it to be a stand alone and not dependant on the prior characters."

That would suggest that D.A. Ellis Loew will also have to be altered.

After adding that he wishes "everyone well on L.A. Confidential 2," Carnahan points out what will differentiate that project from his adaptation of White Jazz. "Stylistically, they will be WILDLY divergent, that I can promise. [George] Clooney as Dave Klein is going to rock a 1958 LA that you have never and will never, see again."

White Jazz is aiming for an early 2008 start.

Having 2 films with similar themes on the horizon is, of course, nothing new for Hollywood. It then becomes a game of Survivor Of The Fittest, as to which one, comes out ahead of the other.