"L.A. Confidential," the terrific 1997 neo-noir that snagged two Oscars, is headed for the small screen.

The film trimmed James Ellroy's sprawling crime epic into a much shorter timeline and dropped a number of story lines, so there's still plenty of material to mine.

Variety reports that the series, like the film, will focus on three homicide detectives, but also a female reporter, a Hollywood actress, and the hunt for a sadistic serial killer.

Jordan Harper ("The Mentalist," "Gotham") is writing and producing the show for CBS. No casting has been announced yet.

You may not know that there was already a TV version of "L.A. Confidential" in 2003, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Vincennes, the character played in the film by Kevin Spacey. It costarred Eric Roberts as "twilight" figure Pierce Patchett and Josh Hopkins ("Quantico") as Bud White, the volatile cop played by Russell Crowe.

That version was filmed but never aired, but was offered as a special feature on the DVD and Blu-ray.

The film, which won an Oscar for Kim Basinger and helped launch the Hollywood careers of Aussies Crowe and Guy Pearce, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.