Many new movies and shows are becoming available, and that includes some older, excellent titles worth watching again. One example is American Gangster, a Ridley Scott crime film originally released in 2007.
Starting April 1, 2026, you’ll be able to stream the popular film American Gangster on Netflix. Released nearly two decades ago, the movie was a box office success, earning over $269 million worldwide. Critics and audiences alike enjoyed it, giving it an 81% ‘Certified Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90% audience score.
American Gangster Is Based on True Events
The movie American Gangster tells the true story of Frank Lucas, a drug lord who rose to power in 1970s Harlem. Denzel Washington portrays Lucas as he builds a heroin empire by smuggling the drug directly from Southeast Asia. Simultaneously, detective Richie Roberts, played by Russell Crowe, is investigating the drug trade and eventually focuses his attention on Lucas, leading to a thrilling pursuit between the two men.
Ridley Scott directed and produced American Gangster with Brian Grazer. The film also features a strong cast including Ruby Dee (known for Do the Right Thing, and an Oscar nominee for her role in this film), Josh Brolin (Avengers: Endgame), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange), Lymari Nadal (Battlestar Galactica), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire), Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs), Idris Elba (Luther), John Hawkes (True Detective), Common (Hell on Wheels), Joe Morton (Terminator 2: Judgment Day), and John Ortiz (from the Fast & Furious movies).
American Gangster May Have Had Some Exaggerations
Some viewers questioned how closely the movie American Gangster stuck to the real story. Both the real-life figures portrayed, Lucas and Roberts, have said the film took liberties with the truth for dramatic purposes, and even the judge involved in Lucas’s arrest described it as largely fictional. This kind of embellishment is common in movies based on real events, but it didn’t hurt American Gangster’s success.
Throughout his career, director Ridley Scott has worked in many genres, but he found particular success with the gangster film American Gangster. More recently, he revisited a previous hit with Gladiator II, a sequel to his 2000 film Gladiator. Interestingly, both American Gangster and Gladiator II feature actors who previously starred in American Gangster: Russell Crowe led the original Gladiator, and Denzel Washington has a key role in the sequel. Scott continues to work with familiar faces, as Josh Brolin, another American Gangster actor, stars in his upcoming post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, The Dog Stars.
American Gangster starts streaming on Netflix on Apr. 1, 2026.
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2026-04-01 01:06