Jennifer Lopez stars in NBC's "Shades of Blue" with Academy award-winning director Barry Levinson at the helm.

NBC made this announcement after several months of silence. "Whether its producing, acting, singing or any of her other many entrepreneurial activities, Jennifer is an extraordinary talent and life force, and we're delighted to be in business with her and Adi Hasak on this sophisticated show," said NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke in a statement.

She added, "We're especially excited that Jennifer is returning to her acting roots from such great movies as 'Out of Sight' and we know that she will create this complicated character in a vivid way that will breathe new life into the cop show genre."

According to Deadline, Jennifer Lopez will play the role of Harlee McCord, a single mom recruited to work in secret for the anti-corruption task force of FBI. She will also work as an executive producer (through her Nuyorican Productions), along with Ryan Seacrest (Ryan Seacrest Productions). Jack Orman of "ER" is also anticipated to function as executive producer/showrunner.

Adi Hasak, who penned "Paris With Love", will write the pilot of the series. Levinson, who will take part in the development process of the 13-episode "Shades of Blue", said, "Adi has written a police drama that gets into the fascinating dirt behind law enforcement with a female character we haven't really seen before."

Jennifer Lopez is currently filming the 14th season of "American Idol". She will also be seen in the thriller "The Boy Next Door" in 2015. "It's an exciting project to be working on with Jennifer," Levinson said.

Levinson has directed "Rain Man" and "Good Morning, Vietnam". According to HitFix, he also bagged Emmy awards for "The Carol Burnett Show", "Displaced Person" and "Homicide". He has received recent Emmy nominations for HBO's "You Don't Know Jack" and "Phil Spector".

Production of "Shades of Blue" is set to start next summer in New York.