Hold onto your fedoras, it's about to get noir-y!  Recent reports have Oscar-nominated director David Fincher and one of Hollywood's go-to crime novelist James Ellroy teaming up in talks with HBO for a Los Angeles-set 1950s crime noir series.  That setting should sound familiar to fans of the Ellroy-novel-inspired  L.A Confidential, but it's also an area that Fincher has wanted to explore for some time now.  Fincher was once attached to direct an adaptation of Ellroy's The Black Dahlia novel (which was helmed by Brian De Palma to a lukewarm reception).  Since Fincher apparently envisioned his version of the crime thriller as a miniseries, perhaps this new project will be a marriage of the two previous adaptations.  Hit the jump for more.

The Playlist reports

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Image via 20th Century Fox

that Fincher and Ellroy are in talks with HBO for a "noir-ish crime show set in L.A., in a ... 1950s milieu."  That's about as deep as the plot details go for the series, but once you take a look at Ellroy's body of work and Fincher's previous attempts to delve into noir, the picture comes together a bit more, even if it's about as clear as a backlit hitman in a rainy alley.  In addition to Fincher's bid for Dahlia, he previously tried to make an Eliot Ness crime thriller by the name of Torso, which centered on the lawman's hunt for a serial killer in 1930s Cleveland; that project is now headed up by director David Lowery.

Even though Dahlia fell through, Fincher and Ellroy kept in contact.  (The Playlist mentions that Ellroy even provided a commentary track on Fincher's cut of Zodiac.)  There are no deals in place just yet, but with talent like this pushing for the project, there's a good chance that discussions could progress rather quickly.

In the meantime, Fincher's big-screen adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl is due out October 3rd.  Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star.