Denzel Washington is in another crime drama. No, he isn’t playing a cop. Instead, Denzel will stretch himself a bit to play a Harlem heroin kingpin in the upcoming Universal movie American Gangster. Washington will be paired with Russell Crowe, who plays a cop trying to stop Denzel’s gangster from smuggling drugs in the coffins of American soldiers.

Variety says that as of now, Ridley Scott is in talks to direct the picture, with a shooting date scheduled for this summer, assuming it gets made at all. Apparently Universal is still on the fence about funding. The presence of Russell probably holds some attraction for Ridley at least. This would be the third time they’ve worked together. The first was on Gladiator, the second was on a movie Ridley has just finished called A Good Year. It looks like Ron Howard may have lost his muse.

This would also be the second time Crowe and Washington have worked together, though few probably remember the first. They starred opposite one another in the quickly forgotten thriller Virtuosity.