‘American Gangster’ Prequel Series Being Developed, Will Star Forest Whitaker
One would think that if a director as big asRidley Scottmade a movie with actors likeDenzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, andJosh Brolin, it would have had more of a lasting impact on the collective psyche of the moviegoing public. But it’s been 10 years sinceAmerican Gangstercame out, and it’s been just about that long since I’ve seen or heard anyone mention it. It’s not a super memorable film, but that isn’t stopping a successful TV creator from writing anAmerican Gangsterprequel series with Oscar-winning actorForest Whitaker(Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) attached to play a real-life gangster.
American Gangstertold the story of Frank Lucas (Washington), a Harlem criminal who, in 1968, smuggled heroin into New York via Vietnam servicemen returning home from the war. He quickly becomes successful enough to build an empire, expanding his reach to other areas of business and attracting the attention of a task force led by Detective Richie Roberts (Russell) in the process. To me, the most memorable thing about the film was its trailer, which I consider to be better than the movie itself:
ScreenDailyspoke withNarcosco-creatorChris Brancato, who revealed that his planned prequel is set five years before the events of the movie and will be calledThe Godfather of Harlem.It tells the story of Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, who was played by an uncredited Clarence Williams III inAmerican Gangster:
In an early scene in the 2007 movie, Washington’s character talks about how Johnson was his mentor:
ScreenDaily’s interview also mentions that Brancato is having conversations with rapperKendrick Lamarabout potentially providing the music for this show. AsThe Playlistnotes, this wouldn’t be the first time a well-known rapper became involved with this franchise: Jay-Z released an album calledAmerican Gangsterin 2007 that was inspired by Scott’s movie.
Whitaker is attached to star inThe Godfather of Harlemas Bumpy Johnson, which seems like a cool opportunity for him to dig into a morally murky character over a long period of time. The project doesn’t have a home yet, but the plan is to shop it to places like Netflix (where Brancato already has a relationship due toNarcos), Amazon, and Hulu. The script is already written, so I expect we’ll be hearing more about this soon.
