American Gangster is a 2007 crime film written by Steve Zaillian and directed by Ridley Scott. The film stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Washington portrays Frank Lucas, a real-life heroin kingpin from Harlem who smuggled the drug into the country in American service planes returning from the Vietnam War. Crowe portrays Richie Roberts, a detective who brings down Lucas' drug empire. Filming was done on location in New York City. American Gangster was released in the United States and Canada on November 2, 2007.

Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, a disciplined and intelligent black gangster, runs much of Harlem and imparts his wisdom onto his former driver turned right hand man, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington). When Johnson dies of a heart attack in 1968, the power vacuum attracts many who seek a piece of the pie. Frank dislikes the new, flashy gangsters and decides to take control. To gain money and power, he travels to Southeast Asia, and strikes a deal with a Chinese (Kuomintang) general who supplies him with pure heroin. Frank then has the drugs transported back to America via military service planes, hidden in the coffins of dead U.S. soldiers from the Vietnam War.

Frank’s unique drug supply enables him to sell potent drugs (“Blue Magic” heroin) at cheap prices. He quickly makes a fortune and buys several nightclubs and apartments. He travels back to his North Carolina home and buys his humble mother a large house. His six brothers are enlisted as his lieutenants in the NYC drug trade – forming “The Country Boys,” who work together to traffic and sell dope on Harlem streets. During his rise, Frank meets and falls in love with Eva, a Puerto Rican beauty queen. Through his discipline, organization, and will to kill those in his way, Frank quickly rises to the top of the Harlem drug and crime scene.

Meanwhile, Essex County, New Jersey detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is juggling a failing marriage, his late-night law school classes and his police career. When Richie and his partner discover nearly $1 million in unmarked bills in a car, Richie resists temptation and turns the money in. His rare honest ways make him a hated member of the force, while his rampant womanizing leads his wife to seek a divorce and custody of their son. Richie catches a break when he’s put in charge of a newly-created task force to stop drug trafficking in New Jersey and New York City. He handpicks honest cops and gets to work.

Frank’s success selling drugs, naturally, draws unwanted attention. This especially applies he errs in having his one moment of public ostentatiousness taking ringside seat at a Muhammad Ali boxing match with several known mobsters in a gaudy fur coat and hat. As it happens, Roberts is observing the event and the sight of this African American who apparently is well connected enough to associate with such criminals encourages his suspicion. Lucas must make deals with the Italian mafia and fend off corrupt NYC detectives such as Det. Trupo (Josh Brolin) who extort and threaten him. He must also contend with local crime figure Nicky Barnes (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) taking some of his product, diluting it himself, and selling it under Frank's brand name. Unidentified assassins try to kill Frank’s wife, further destabilizing him and worsening his unsteady marriage. Things finally turn to the worst when Frank sees the U.S. Military vacating Vietnam, which in turn cuts off Frank's primary transportation for his heroin.

Richie catches another break when his men witness a driver of one of Frank’s top soldiers shooting a woman. They use the driver’s bad predicament to get him to wear a wire. The wire allows Richie and his task force to discover when a plane carrying drugs is landing. Meanwhile, Trupo leads his band of police officers to Frank's mother's mansion where they confiscate Frank's emergency cash supply. When the plane lands, Richie and his men follow the drugs into Harlem’s projects and obtain a warrant. A huge group of police and detectives attack the drug apartments en masse and a large shootout occurs. Many of Frank’s drug men are killed and others are arrested. Frank himself is at church when the bust goes down, but he is arrested after the service ends. Frank and Richie finally meet, and Frank’s attempts to bully and bribe Richie are unsuccessful.

With no other options, Frank decides to rat out numerous other criminals, including his and Richie’s common enemies: corrupt NYC detectives. Numerous corrupt cops are arrested; Det. Trupo kills himself to avoid arrest. Richie, who has passed the Bar Exam, is so impressed by Frank’s confessions that he decides to act as Frank’s new defense attorney. Because of his cooperation, Frank receives a relatively light sentence: 15 years. At the film’s end, he steps out of jail onto the street.

In 2000, Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment purchased the rights to "The Return of Superfly", a New York magazine story by Mark Jacobson about the rise and fall of the 1970s heroin kingpin Frank Lucas. Screenwriter Steve Zaillian brought a 170-page script to director Ridley Scott in 2002, and the director expressed interest in making two films from the script. However, the director did not immediately pursue the project. In November 2003, Universal and Imagine entered negotiations with director Brian De Palma to helm Tru Blu, with a script by Steve Zaillian based on Frank Lucas. Zaillian interpreted the story as one of "American business and race", focusing the script thematically on corporate business. Production was initially slated for a spring 2004 start. In March 2004, the studio entered new negotiations with director Antoine Fuqua to helm the project, as well as actor Denzel Washington to star in the film as Frank Lucas. The following May, actor Benicio del Toro entered negotiations to star as Detective Richie Roberts, who brought down Lucas. Production of Tru Blu was reset to begin in early fall 2004, with the film slated for a release date of June 3, 2005. In September 2004, actress Dania Ramirez entered negotiations to join the cast of the film, now titled American Gangster.

Universal Studios reported that it greenlit American Gangster with a budget of $80 million, which escalated to $93 million, with $10 million for development costs and $3 million for the delay of the production start date. Sources close to the director insist that the budget was $93 million from the beginning. The studio also sought for American Gangster to be produced in Toronto rather than New York City to save money, but Fuqua resisted the re-location. The studio's parent company General Electric received tax credits in New York City, so production was moved to the city. The move however inflated the budget to $98 million. Fuqua's camp insisted that it was seeking ways to reduce the budget, but the studio contended several aspects of the project under him. The director had wanted to film a Vietnam sequence in Thailand and to cast notable names such as Ray Liotta and John C. Reilly in minor roles. To add to the studio's budgetary concerns, Fuqua was rewriting the script during the preproduction process. The director also did not have a shot-list, final locations, and supporting actors signed to initiate production.

Fuqua was fired on October 1, 2004, four weeks before principal photography would begin. The studio cited creative differences for the director's departure. After Fuqua's departure, the studio met with director Peter Berg to take over the project, and actor Denzel Washington had approved of the choice. Due to the search potentially escalating a budget already in the US$80 million range and the difficulty in recouping the amount based on the film's subject matter, Universal canceled production of American Gangster, citing time constraints and creative elements for its reason. The cancellation cost the studio $30 million, of which $20 million went to Denzel Washington and $5 million went to Benicio Del Toro due to their pay or play contracts. Entertainment Weekly reported that the sources close to the director that Fuqua's ambition to produce the film was primarily based on the prospect of an African-American director and an African-American actor leading a big-budget film that would potentially be nominated for Oscars.

In March 2005, American Gangster was revived as Universal and Imagine entered negotiations with director Terry George to revise Zaillian's script and helm the project. The project was to be financed with a target budget of US $50 million. The following May, actor Don Cheadle was approached to replace Washington as Frank Lucas, though an offer would be held off until George completed his revision of the script. Producer Brian Grazer and Imagine executive Jim Whitaker decided against pursuing George's attempt and to return to Zaillian's vision. In February 2006, director Ridley Scott entered talks with the studio to take over American Gangster from George, returning to Zaillian's draft as the film's basis. Washington returned to his role as Frank Lucas, and Russell Crowe was attached to star as Detective Richie Roberts. This would be the second time they have acted together since 2005's Virtuosity.

Scott had discussed the script with actor Russell Crowe as they worked on A Good Year (2006) in France, and then they sought to take on the project. The director reviewed Zaillian's script, Terry George's rewrite, and a revision by Richard Price during the project's incarnation with director Antoine Fuqua. Scott preferred Zaillian's approach and chose to follow it. In realizing the project, the director encountered a challenge in the script since the characters Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts do not encounter each other until twenty minutes before the end of the film. The director sought to flesh out the private universes of the characters that would evolve and have scenes cut between the two characters to provide a balance. Elements like Frank Lucas's interaction with his family and Richie Roberts's dysfunctional marriage were written to add to the characters' backgrounds.

Scott chose to direct American Gangster based on the paradoxical values of Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts. The film focuses a bit on the comparatively ethical business practices of the "wicked gangster" and the womanizing and failed marriage of the "do-gooder" police detective. Washington, who was not normally a fan of gangster films, chose to portray Lucas when he saw "the arc of the character" had ended with prices that Lucas paid for his actions. Crowe was drawn to the project based on his previous work with the director on Gladiator. Production was slated in summer 2006. To prepare for their roles, the actors met their real-life counterparts. Washington acquired Lucas's Southern accent, and Crowe practiced to match Roberts's manner of speaking and body language, requesting tape recordings of Roberts to assist in his preparation. The following March, the studio rehired Zaillian to rewrite the script for American Gangster. It was rumored that Washington got paid another $20 million for when the project was greenlit again, that rumor proved to be false. According to Variety, he only signed on for his gross.

Director Ridley Scott produced television commercials from the 1960s to the 1980s, which entailed visits to New York City in the same time period in which the film's story took place. The director sought to downplay a "Beatles" atmosphere to the film and to instead create a shabbier atmosphere. Scott described his perspective of the setting, "Harlem was really, really shabby, beautiful brownstones falling apart." Production and costume design was emphasized, transforming the location into the rundown streets of upper Manhattan from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Denzel Washington, as Frank Lucas, went through 64 different costume changes.

The director filmed American Gangster in 180 locations, an unusually high number for production, throughout New York's five boroughs. Approximately 50 to 60 locations were set in Harlem alone. The director also found several interiors that had been untouched since the 1940s and despite sanitary concerns, chose to film scenes in these locations. All the locations in the film were authentic, with the exception of Frank Lucas's coffee shop, built as a set at the northeast corner of 122nd St and Lenox Avenue. Scott found filming in Harlem to be difficult, describing it as "an area of wide-avenued boulevards" whose concrete pavement and lack of trees provided poor opportunities for shooting angles.

Between April and May 2007, composer Marc Streitenfeld recorded the musical score for American Gangster by using an 80-piece orchestra recorded in sections as well as acoustic pre-records, performed by Streitenfeld himself. The official soundtrack for American Gangster was released by Def Jam Recordings and has songs by artists including Bobby Womack, The Staple Singers and Sam & Dave.

Denzel Washington originally pressed for film producer Brian Grazer to have Jay-Z compile a soundtrack for the film, but Grazer and director Ridley Scott resisted because they wanted an authentic 1970s feel to the film. An older Jay-Z song, "Heart of the City (Ain't No Love)", was included in the film's trailer. Instead of directly recording for the film, Jay-Z released an album inspired by the film, similarly titled American Gangster, in conjunction with the release of the film.

Track listing:

"Do You Feel Me" – 3:56
Performed by Anthony Hamilton

"Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" – 3:46
Performed by Lowell Fulson

"No Shoes" – 2:24
Performed by John Lee Hooker

"Across 110th Street" – 3:47
Performed by Bobby Womack

"Stone Cold" – 4:06
Performed by Anthony Hamilton

"Hold On I'm Comin'" – 2:31
Performed by Sam & Dave

"I'll Take You There" – 4:34
Performed by The Staple Singers

"Can't Truss It" – 4:39
Performed by Public Enemy

"Checkin' Up on My Baby" – 2:12
Performed by Hank Shocklee

"Club Jam" – 3:10
Performed by Hank Shocklee

"Railroad" – 2:20
Performed by Hank Shocklee

"Nicky Barnes" – 3:11
Performed by Hank Shocklee

"Hundred Percent Pur" – 2:13
Performed by Marc Streitenfeld

"Frank Lucas" – 2:40
Performed by Marc Streitenfeld

Over a week before the release of American Gangster, a screener for the film leaked online. The film debuted in the United States and Canada on November 2, 2007 in 3,054 theaters. In its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, American Gangster grossed $43,565,115, placing first in the weekend box office. As of November 19, 2007, American Gangster is estimated to have grossed $100,650,615 in the United States and Canada and $14,737,131 in other territories for a worldwide total of $115,387,746. At the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of 147 reviewers approved of American Gangster. On the similar site Metacritic, 37 accumulated reviews gave the film a metascore of 76 out of 100, considered generally favorable reviews.

American Gangster has been observed as a candidate for the Oscars based on the film's style and the performance of the actors, including the possibility of an Academy Award for Best Director for Ridley Scott.

The subject of the movie, Frank Lucas, has admitted that "only 20 percent of the film is true".

American Gangster will be released in both Widescreen and Fullscreen DVD and Widescreen HD DVD in the United States on March 4, 2008.

The film inspired the rapper Jay-Z to create a concept album, also titled American Gangster. Jay-Z had been shown the film at an early screening, which had "tremendous resonance" to him. The rapper recorded tracks that were prompted by specific scenes in the film. The album American Gangster is a rarity among inspired-by albums because only one artist is recording it, especially a major artist that had no role in the film. The New York Times speculated that the album's release in conjunction with the film would attract young moviegoers and help Universal Pictures generate profits to recover from the film's troubled development history.