Crowe and Washington: AMERICAN GANGSTER

Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington will co-star in Ridley Scott's new film American Gangster which will begin filming in the mid to late part of this year. The film is set in the 1970s and based on the true story of how drug lord Frank Lucas smuggled heroin into the US in the coffins of American soldiers killed in Vietnam. "It's about one of the biggest and most notorious drug dealers in the history of America, Frank Lucas, and a New York detective, Richie Roberts, who tracks him down," said Washington who will play drug dealer Lucas while Crowe takes the part of detective Richie Roberts. Washington, 51,who won the best actor Oscar in 2002 for Training Day, beating fellow nominee Crowe ( A Beautiful Mind), says he relishes the challenge of working with Hollywood's best.