American Gangster
There are two sides to the American dream.
Country
Production
Budget
$100 000 000
Revenue
$266 465 037
Website
Director
Actors
Scenario
Mark Jacobson
Producer
Brian Grazer, Ridley Scott, Branko Lustig, Steven Zaillian, Nicholas Pileggi, Michael Costigan, Jim Whitaker
Operator
Composer
Artist
Audition
Avy Kaufman
Editing
Short description
Loosely 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 Newark Detective Richie Roberts.
What's left behind the scenes
- Antoine Fuqua was supposed to direct the film in 2004. Denzel Washington and Benicio Del Toro were to star in the leading roles. However, the project was shelved a month before filming began.
- After the studio rejected Terry George’s script, Steven Zaillian was asked to rewrite his own script.
- Richie Roberts and Frank Lucas, whose story formed the basis of the film, served as Ridley Scott’s main consultants during filming in New York.
- When Terry George was attached as director, Don Cheadle was supposed to play the lead role, and Joaquin Phoenix – Richie Roberts.
- Russell Crowe demanded audio recordings of Richie Roberts' voice in order to accurately imitate his manner of speaking.
- Working titles for the film were “Tru Blu” and “The Return of Superfly”.
- In March 2005, Terry George was hired by the studio to rewrite the script so that the budget would not exceed $50 million.
- When Antoine Fuqua was credited as director, he wanted Ray Liotta and John C. Reilly to play supporting roles.
- When the project was shelved, Denzel Washington and Benicio Del Toro received their full fees. The fact is that their contracts contained a clause obligating the studio to pay them the full amount of their fees regardless of whether the film was made or not. Denzel received $20 million, and Benicio – $5 million. When the project was revived, Washington received another $20 million, earning a minimum of $40 million from the film.
- During filming in Thailand, part of the extras consisted of people who had been involved in transporting drugs for Frank Lucas during the Vietnam War.
- Ridley Scott first read Steven Zaillian's screenplay before the start of filming for "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005). He was very interested in the script and agreed to direct the film. During the filming of "A Good Year" (2006), Scott and Russell Crowe repeatedly discussed "American Gangster," which ultimately became their next joint project.
- Ridley Scott and Brian Grazer considered Brad Pitt for the role of Richie Roberts.
- The director's cut of the film has a runtime of 175 minutes.
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