American Gangster (film)
| American Gangster | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Ridley Scott |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Steven Zaillian |
| Based on |
The Return of Superfly by Mark Jacobson |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Marc Streitenfeld |
| Cinematography | Harris Savides |
| Edited by | Pietro Scalia |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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158 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Box office | $266.5 million |
American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian. The film is based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by detective Richie Roberts. The film stars Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in their first lead acting roles together since 1995's Virtuosity. The film also co-stars Ted Levine, John Ortiz, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Norman Reedus, Ruby Dee, Lymari Nadal and Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Development for the film initially began in 2000, when Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment purchased the rights to a New York magazine story about the rise and fall of Lucas. Two years later, screenwriter Steven Zaillian introduced a 170-page scriptment to Scott. Original production plans were to commence in Toronto for budget purposes; however, production eventually relocated permanently to New York City. Because of the film's rising budget Universal canceled production in 2004. After negotiations with Terry George, it was later revived with Scott at the helm in March 2005. Principal photography commenced over a period of five months from July to December 2006; filming took place throughout New York City and concluded in Thailand.
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