American Gangster

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2007)

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. 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. In October 2004, Fuqua abruptly abandoned the project, with the studio citing creative differences for the director's departure. The studio began searching for a new director to replace Fuqua. 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 ceased looking for a director. The studio canceled production of American Gangster, citing time constraints and creative elements for its reason.