Movie News for
American Gangster
Release Date:
November 2, 2007
August 22, 2006
Ejiofor and Rappers in Gangster Pic
Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (Inside Man), rappers Common, TI, and RZA, as well as Ted Levine, John Ortiz, and Yul Vazquez have all signed on to star in director Ridley Scott's American Gangster for Universal. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe headline the drama.
Source: Variety
August 17, 2006
Brolin is a Gangster
Josh Brolin will join the cast of Ridley Scott's American Gangster, which includes stars Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. Brolin (Hollow Man; Grind House) will play a crooked New York City detective, Crowe also plays a detective, and Washington is a drug kingpin who smuggles heroin in the body bags of dead soldiers from Vietnam.
Source: Variety
February 20, 2006
American Gangster returns
Ridley Scott is in talks to direct Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in this drama for Universal Pictures. The project has not officially been greenlit yet, as the honchos at Universal are currently deciding whether to finance the film, joint-finance the project, or drop it. Originally, Antoine Fuqua was directing the film with Washington and Benicio Del Toro as its stars, but it was canceled over fears that the budget could cross $100 million. Then, Terry George was brought on to re-work Steve Zaillian's script.
The story follows a Harlem heroin kingpin who smuggles heroins in the coffins of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.
Source: Variety
March 21, 2005
American Gangster finds new life
Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment are breathing new life into the American Gangster project, which had been abandoned some months ago after director Antoine Fuqua believed the project couldn't be done for less than $100 million. They have brought Terry George (Hotel Rwanda) on board to direct, and are looking to recent Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle to take the role of Frank Lucas, aka Superfly. The target budget for the project is $50 million.
The movie was originally set to star Denzel Washington and Benicio Del Toro.
Source: Variety
October 7, 2004
American Gangster is no more
Universal Pictures has canceled production on American Gangster just a few days after director Antoine Fuqua departed the project due to creative differences. Denzel Washington and Benicio Del Toro were both set to star, and will have to be paid under the contracts that they had for the film.
According to Variety, the decision to cancel the project came after the studio spent several days trying to search out a director who might be able to give the gritty crime drama a broad, commercial appeal. With the budget escalating, Universal determined that they simply had no chance of recouping their investment.
Source: Variety
October 4, 2004
Fuqua departs American Gangster
Antoine Fuqua has abruptly dropped out of the Denzel Washington project American Gangster, which tells the true-life story of the man whom the Superfly films fictionalized. Fuqua left the picture last Friday, and Universal is citing creative differences as the reason.
The film was set to begin production in November, so the studio will start the search for a replacement director this week. The movie starred Washington along with Benicio Del Toro in the story of Frank Lucas, a drug kingpin who smuggled heroin into the U.S. using caskets of Vietnam veterans. Finding himself caught by New York detective Richie Roberts (Del Toro), Lucas instead used his abilities to capture crooked cops and drug dealers.
Fuqua had previously worked with Washington on Training Day, for which Washington received the Best Actor Academy Award. The director had long been attached to the American Gangster project, which has undergone several name changes.
Source: Variety
September 13, 2004
Ramirez set for Gangster
Dania Ramirez, who recently starred in Spike Lee's She Hate Me, is in negotiations to star alongside Denzel Washington and Benicio Del Toro in Antoine Fuqua's American Gangster, which tells the story of Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas. Lucas was previously the subject of the Superfly films. Ramirez would play a former Miss Puerto Rico and the wife of Lucas, who will be portrayed by Washington.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Return to Movie News home.
|
|
|
|
