American Gangster

Academy Award winners Russell Crowe (Gladiator, The Insider) and Denzel Washington (Training Day, The Hurricane) join Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man), director / producer Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York) for a cinematic event that tells the true juggernaut success story of a cult superstar from the streets of 1970s Harlem who rose to the heights of power by becoming the most ruthless figure in his business.and was taken down by an outcast cop driven to bring justice to the streets: “American Gangster.” In the early ’70s, police corruption was rampant in New York City. The Vietnam War was taking a devastating toll overseas and at home. Soldiers were brought back to the U.S. either in body bags or addicted to an imported opiate called heroin-which they shared with curious experimenters who became instantly hooked. With the assistance of law enforcement, the mafia operated with relative impunity in this noncompetitive market, selling thousands of kilos of smack to addicts hungry for their product.