Oscar winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) will helm the police thriller 77, in his feature directorial debut.
Leto previously helmed the documentary “Artifact,” which won an award at the 2012 Toronto Film Fest.
He has also directed music videos and commercials under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins.
The actor will direct from an original screenplay by L.A. Confidential author James Ellroy, with revisions by David Matthews (“Narcos”).
Set in politically charged 1974 Los Angeles, the tale centers around two police officers who team up to recover kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst while investigating the brutal murder of a fellow officer.
In the process, they uncover not only corruption and crime but also dark and violent conspiracy.
Hearst hid out in Los Angeles that year with the her kidnappers from the Symbionese Liberation Army but managed to escape before most of the SLA members were gunned down in a shootout with the LAPD. She remained on the lam for more than a year.
The film will be produced by writer-producer Dick Wolf and Tony Ganz of Wolf Films. Leto is also producing.
Emma Ludbrook is the executive producer. Leto and Ludbrook work under their company Paradox.
Leto, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club, will be seen in “Blade Runner 2049” opposite Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling.