The new film American Gangster tells the true-life story of Frank Lucas, New York City's most successful heroin dealer during the 1970s. The movie stars Denzel Washington as Lucas, and Russell Crowe as the detective out to stop his nefarious ways. Washington told us he hoped his portrayal of Lucas would not glorify him as a drug dealer, but rather show him for the criminal that he was: "What interested me in the story was not to glorify a drug dealer, and I told Frank that when I met him. I found it fascinating that he only did 15 years of prison when he was caught. Reason being was he told on all the cops who were as dirty as he was. And he told on some of the Italian mob guys that he was doing business with, and his sentence was reduced."
American Gangster, directed by Ridley Scott, opens nationwide on Friday (November 2nd).
This is the second film in which Washington and Crowe have co-starred. The two appeared in 1995's Virtuosity.
This is the third Ridley Scott film in which Crowe has starred. He has also starred in 2000's Gladiator and 2006's A Good Year.
