Trivia / American Gangster

• All-Star Cast: Even minor or outright extra roles are filled with well-known actors.
• Billing Displacement: A jarring case with Cuba Gooding Jr., since he plays a minor role, yet somehow he's billed as fourth, even before the Big Bad.
• Cast the Expert: While filming on-location in the Chiang Mai province of Thailand, Ridley Scott hired many extras from the local villages, some of whom were actual participants in the drug-running operation of Frank Lucas during the Vietnam War.
• Content Leak: A screener was leaked a couple of months before release.
• The Danza: Norman Reedus as Detective Norman Reilly.
• Dawson Casting: The real Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts were in their late thirties/early forties and early to mid thirties respectively during the events depicted. They're portrayed here by Denzel Washington, who was in his early fifties, and Russell Crowe, who was in his early forties.
• Deleted Scene: Plenty, most of which merely extend what's already seen in the movie. The extended version can be found on the Special Edition DVD and has been aired on HBO multiple times.
• Dueling-Stars Movie: Denzel Washington vs. Russell Crowe. Interestingly, this movie reverses the villain and hero roles they played in their previous dueling-stars movie Virtuosity.
• Fake American: Australian Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts. Brits Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor also play Americans.
• Saved from Development Hell: Antoine Fuqua was originally set to direct this project in 2004 with Denzel Washington and Benicio del Toro starring, with Ray Liotta and John C. Reilly in supporting roles, but production was halted one month before shooting, after Universal Pictures canceled the film over budget concerns. However, Washington and Del Toro received their salaries nonetheless. A pay-or-play deal was stipulated in both of their contracts that Universal would pay Washington twenty million dollars, and Del Toro five million dollars, regardless of whether the film was made or not. Once this project was green-lit by Universal a second time, under Ridley Scott's direction, Washington returned to the project without an upfront fee.
• What Could Have Been:
  • David Fincher was interested in making the film back when the script was still titled Superfly, but he and the studio could not agree on an appropriate budget for the film.
  • When Terry George was set to direct the film, with Don Cheadle as Frank Lucas, Joaquin Phoenix was a definite consideration for Richie Roberts.
  • Brad Pitt was the alternate choice Richie Roberts.
  • Will Smith was considered for Frank Lucas.
  • 50 Cent auditioned for the role of Huey Lucas.
  • James Gandolfini was considered for the role of Trupo.
• Working Title: During the first stages of production, this film had a few different titles, such as Tru Blu and The Return of Superfly.

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