Movie i am gangster license#

Frank also comes to odds with competing local gangster Nicky Barnes corrupt NYPD detective Nick Trupo, who is among many people Frank is forced to bribe and the Corsican mafia, who unsuccessfully attempt to assassinate Frank and his wife for putting them out of business. He attends the Fight of the Century with her, where Roberts spots Frank, notices he has better seats than the Italian mobsters, and begins investigating him. Frank eventually falls in love with and marries Eva, a Puerto Rican beauty queen.

He buys a mansion for his mother and recruits his five brothers as his lieutenants. With this monopoly, Frank becomes Harlem's top crime lord, opening legitimate business fronts and maintaining a low profile, while befriending politicians and famous celebrities (such as Joe Louis). Roberts is also depicted having a bitter divorce battle with his ex-wife over his infidelity.įrank's heroin racket prospers he eventually sells Blue Magic wholesale to many dealers in the New York Tri-State Area and expands his distribution through other criminal organisations. After his outcasted and addicted partner overdoses on Blue Magic, Captain Lou Toback puts Roberts in charge of a special task force that targets major local drug suppliers. Newark detective and aspiring lawyer Richie Roberts is ostracized in his precinct after handing in almost $1 million that he found in a mobster's car. Frank sells his heroin under the brand 'Blue Magic', whose affordability and purity make it incredibly popular, eliminating much of his competition. through returning Vietnam War servicemen. When Johnson dies of a heart attack, Frank enters the heroin trade, buying directly from producers in Thailand and smuggling it into the U.S. In 1968, Frank Lucas is the right-hand man of Harlem mob boss Ellsworth 'Bumpy' Johnson. American Gangster was nominated for twenty-one awards, including two Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actress (Ruby Dee), and won three including a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for Dee.

Movie i am gangster license#

Many of the people portrayed, including Roberts and Lucas, have stated that the film took much creative license with the story, and three former DEA agents sued Universal claiming the agency's portrayal was demoralizing. The film was well received by most film critics, and grossed over US$266.5 million worldwide, with domestic grosses standing at $130.1 million. 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.Īmerican Gangster premiered in New York on October 20, 2007, and was released in the United States and Canada on November 2.

After negotiations with Terry George, it was later revived with Scott at the helm in March 2005. Because of the film's rising budget Universal canceled production in 2004. Original production plans were to commence in Toronto for budget purposes however, production eventually relocated permanently to New York City. Two years later, screenwriter Steven Zaillian introduced a 170-page scriptment to Scott. The film also co-stars Ted Levine, John Ortiz, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Norman Reedus, Ruby Dee, Lymari Nadal and Cuba Gooding Jr.ĭevelopment 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. The film stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in their first lead acting roles together since 1995's Virtuosity. The film is fictionally 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. American Gangster is a 2007 American biographical crime film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by Steven Zaillian.