This was an original screenplay written by James Ellroy entitled "The Plague Season". It was in development for eight years. One time the film was set up at Universal Pictures.
The script was set in the midst of the 1960s Watts Riots. James Ellroy updated the original story in 1992 after the request of producer Caldecot Chubb for budgetary reasons but asked that his name not be used to promote the movie after he had seen it.
James Ellroy declared that he had nothing to do with this film. David Ayer entirely rewrote his script and only conserved the names of some characters.