Ridley Scott is in talks to direct Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in a 1970s crime drama.

Producer Brian Grazer wants to start shooting American Gangster this summer, reports Variety.

The project is back on again after being pulled by Universal Pictures in late 2004.

Universal has still to decide whether to finance or co-finance the movie but other studios are interested.

The story revolves around a Harlem heroin kingpin who figured out a way to smuggle heroin in the coffins of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.

Source: Press Release