A scene from Departed

Warner Bros has acquired rights to the LA times recent seven part series Tales from the Gangster Squad with Dan Lin to produce the feature adaptation.

In 1946, in a chaotic and corrupt Los Angeles, gangsters brazenly engaged in shootouts and drive-by shootings. At the time, the LAPD formed what was dubbed the Gangster Squad to keep East Coast Mafia out of the city. The squad’s anything goes approach lasted through the 1950s.

Paul Lieberman wrote the script for the film based on these articles on the newspaper. He began working on the series back in 1992, when he received a call from a reader who said piece about the LAPD’s Organized Crime Intelligence Division had failed to mention its roots in a unit formed after WWII, the Gangster Squad. When asked by the writer how he knew, the man said, “Well I was on it.”

Within days, Lieberman was in the San Gabriel Valley living room of long retired Sgt. Jack O’Mara. Over time, he tracked down nine other squad members. One, the unit’s first bug man, shared what he knew only after a decade of Lieberman’s persistent querying.

There were more than a 100 people who were interview for the series, including attorneys for L.A. mobster Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen and two former members of Cohen’s entourage, one of whom was present on the night Jack “the enforcer” Whalen was shot. In addition, Whalen’s surviving relatives, including the 91 year old sister, agreed to be interviewed for the series.

The article focuses on two cops. One a member of the Gangster Squad and one forced out against his will who were both obsessed with talking down Cohen.

Warners and Lin are out to screenwriters to adapt the material. The film will look solid if they get a good cast for this. It might turn out to be another Pride and Glory with a lot more reality.

Lin Pictures’ Jon Silk will serve as co producer.

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