Titus Welliver was perfect casting asBosch, but the first actor in line to play the part could have been great too.Boschauthor Michael Connelly didn’t have the best of luck with adaptations of his work in the past. The first big movie based on his novels wasClint Eastwood’s worst action movieBlood Workin 2002.
While the author has credited the film with giving him his Hollywood break, he wasn’t a fan of the final product. In 2025, audiences can barely move with hit Connolly adaptations, with bothThe Lincoln LawyerandBoschshowsstill going strong.Boscheven has a hit spinoff withBallard, starring Maggie Q.
Going back to his early run-ins with the film business,in the 1990s Connolly optioned twoBoschnovels to producer Mace Neufeld:Black IceandThe Black Echo. Neufeld was the producer behind theJack Ryanfilm, and presumably saw franchise potential in the character. By the start of the 2000s, pre-production really started to gear up onBlack Ice.
John Travolta Almost Played Bosch In A Movie Adaptation Of Black Ice
Filmmakers like Oliver Stone and Steven Soderbergh were being linked as directors, while John Travolta was close to signing on as Bosch. Travolta may have been dinged by the critical and commercial disaster ofBattlefield Eartharound this time, but he was still riding high off hits likePulp FictionandFace/Off.
It’s hard to picture anybodybutTitus Welliver as Bosch now,butof all the A-list stars that could have played the detective in the early 2000s, Travolta was a great choice. He played similar types of detective roles to Bosch inThe General’s DaughterandBasic, who were also driven to solve cases no matter the personal cost.
Travolta does tend to go a little hammy, but had he reined that in and played both the melancholy and dry humor of Bosch, he would have nailed it. Ultimately,Travolta moved on from the adaptation, which soon fell into limbo.
The Bosch Movie Was Trapped In Development Hell For 15 Years
It’s not uncommon for movies to get mired in development hell, where shifting trends and studio properties can see a “go” project get kicked to the sidelines.In the case ofBosch, it appears the inherent darkness of the material made Paramount shy away from the seriesas the years wore on.
ABoschadaptation would have sat comfortably alongside the Morgan FreemanAlex Crossseries or theJack Ryanmovies in the late 1990s/early 2000s, but those kind of R-rated thrillers waned in popularity during the 2000s. This left Connolly understandably frustrated, since the studio had a 15-year option and he couldn’t take the property elsewhere.
AHollywood Reporterfeature explained the ugly reality behind Conolly getting the rights from Paramount. According to the option deal,if the studio hadn’t made aBoschfilm within 15 years, Connolly had a year to buy the rights back - so long as he reimbursed all development costs.
According to a lawsuit Connolly filed, the studio then inflated the development numbers and failed to provide proper documentation for them. The case was settled in October 2010, and while Connolly didn’t elaborate on the terms of the settlement, he got his character back.
This led to the development of Prime’sBoschseries, with Titus Welliver being cast in the title role. While the original series and its spinoffLegacyhave since ended,Welliver reprised the role for three episodes ofBallard.
Source: THR
Bosch
The Bosch franchise is a critically acclaimed American police procedural series centered on LAPD detective Harry Bosch. Adapted from Michael Connelly’s novels, the franchise began withBosch(2014–2021) on Amazon Prime Video, followed by the sequel seriesBosch: Legacy(2022–present) on Amazon Freevee. The franchise is expanding with an upcoming series focusing on Detective Renée Ballard.
Harry Bosch
Harry Bosch is a tenacious and principled detective known for his unwavering commitment to justice. A former LAPD homicide detective and Vietnam War veteran, Bosch’s career is marked by his relentless pursuit of truth, often clashing with authority figures. His personal motto, “Everybody counts or nobody counts,” underscores his dedication to treating every victim with equal importance. Bosch’s character has been central to a series of novels by Michael Connelly and has been portrayed by Titus Welliver in the television adaptations.
