Six years afterDenzel Washingtongave his second Oscar-winning performance inTraining Day, he teamed up withRussell Crowefor a gritty crime thriller that’s dominating streaming charts. The pair star alongsideJosh BrolinandChiwetel EjioforinAmerican Gangster, the 2007 true crime docudrama following an outcast New York cop tasked with bringing down Harlem drug kingpinFrank Lucas.American Gangsteris streaming on Netflix in the U.S., but it’s also one of the most popular movies globally on Rakuten TV, charting in countries such as Slovenia.American Gangsterearned a“certified fresh”81% score from critics and a 90% rating from audiences onRotten Tomatoes. The film also grossed $269 million at the box office, managing to turn a profit of its whopping $100 million budget.
American Gangsteris based on the article The Return of Superfly, a New York Magazine piece written byMark Jacobson, andSteven Zaillianwrote the script for the film, withRidley Scottdirecting. Scott has spoken openly about American Gangsterbeing one of themost difficult productions of his career— the film shot 360 scenes in more than 180 different places. Scott also hired real people from local villages in the Chiang Mai province of Thailand, many of whom were real drug runners for Frank Lucas’ operations. Frank Lucas himself also expressed excitement about the film upon learning of its existence, only to admit thatvery little of it was trueand most of it was heavily dramatized. Frank Lucas died on June 29, 2025, of natural causes. Scott had worked with Russell Crowe seven years prior onGladiator, the Oscar-winning war epic.
Denzel Washington Teamed Up With Chris Pine for a Thrilling Train Movie
In 2010, Denzel Washington suited up alongsideStar TrekveteranChris PineinUnstoppable, a disaster thriller following a veteran engineer and a young conductor who try to stop a half-mile-long freight train barreling towards a heavily populated city. The film was well-liked by critics, earning a“certified fresh”87% score onRotten Tomatoes, and it even landed a 72% rating on the audience-driven Popcornmeter. It grossed only $167 million at the box office against a $100 million budget, and it serves as the final feature directorial outing for acclaimed filmmakerTony Scott.
American Gangsteris one of the most popular movies in the world on streaming. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Washington’s future projects.
American Gangster
