The Rampart scandal; which rocked the Los Angeles Police Department, when it hit back in the late 1990s; has influenced a huge number of movies and TV shows; such as Training Day, Dark Blue, Dirty, and FX’s The Shield (which was originally titled Rampart, but changed at the request of the L.A.P.D.); and has been the subject of numerous movies, that always seem to stall unexpectedly, ever since it first came to light.
The scandal has been described as being more detrimental to the reputation of the L.A.P.D. than the Rodeny King incident; as it involved a number of corrupt officers from the Rampart Division (particularly the CRASH unit; upon which the Strike Team in The Shield was based; and Rafael Perez) linked to unprovoked shootings, beatings, planting evidence, stealing evidence, framing suspects, dealing drugs, taking bribes, covering up evidence, perjuring, and even being linked to a bank robbery; making it a hugely controversial subject that the L.A.P.D. are keen to forget, but one that should make for an excellent movie.
The latest film to be based on the scandal will be titled Rampart, and hopes to be a much more realistic telling of the scandal than any of the loosely based movies and shows that have referenced it before, and has been written by Dark Blue scribe James Ellroy, and is due to be directed by Oren Moverman (The Messenger).
Back in April it was confirmed that not only would Defendor himself; Woody Harrelson (Zombieland); be appearing as the corrupt cop who’s the main focus of the scandal (in this case playing a fictional police veteran, but one who is most likely a strong representation of Rafael Perez), but that Ice Cube (the very rapper whose contempt for the L.A.P.D. led to him releasing songs, as part of the gangsta rap group Niggaz With Attitude, like ‘Fuck Tha Police’) would be appearing as a black detective who will not be ‘showing out for the white cop’, but actively pursuing Harrelson’s character.
Ben Foster (who worked with Oren on The Messenger) has also been attached to appear in a key role for some time, but the latest casting announcements report that not only have Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City), Anne Heche (Hung), and Robin Wright (Forrest Gump) joined the picture, but Alien’s Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, Ghostbusters), and Steve Buscemi (the star of Reservoir Dogs who played a key part in The Sopranos, and will be heading the cast of HBO’s latest epic; Boardwalk Empire; when it premieres in the U.S. this weekend), have also locked in deals.
And despite the doomed future of all previous Rampart based movies, it looks as though this one should finally be able to complete production, and get a very tense an exciting movie made (if all the attached names are any indication of quality), as Moverman has now secured full funding for the picture, and is due to begin filming around October 25th, in Los Angeles.
