Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington's 'Godfather'-Style Crime Epic Lands on Starz

Director Ridley Scott has implied over the years that working with Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington isn't easy. While he hasn't made a movie with Crowe since 2010's Robin Hood, he recently worked with Washington on Gladiator II. Washington developed a close friendship with Scott's late brother Tony Scott, with whom he worked on memorable films such as Unstoppable, Man on Fire, and Crimson Tide. However, both Washington and Crowe starred together in a two-hander directed by Ridley Scott that is about to turn 20 years old. The movie in question was recently added to the Starz library, giving younger audiences a chance to check it out.

Released theatrically in 2007, American Gangster arrived at the peak of Crowe and Scott's decade-long creative partnership, which also produced films such as Gladiator, Body of Lies, and A Good Year. The 2007 film was a period gangster epic based on a true story, featuring an eclectic supporting cast that included Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr., and others. It was a major box-office hit, grossing nearly $270 million worldwide against a reported budget of $100 million. It was also an awards contender, competing with the year's two heavy hitters — No Country for Old Men, also starring Brolin, and the epic Western There Will Be Blood.