Scott is currently in post production on American Gangster, working for the first time with Denzel Washington and again with Russell Crowe. He is the third director to attempt the project after Antoine Fuqua's attempt (under the working title Tru Blu) was shut down by the studio due to an escalating budget. Washington had been cast in that incarnation of the project (reuniting him with Fuqua who had directed him in his Best Actor Oscar-winning performance in Training Day) as well as Benicio del Toro, who were both paid salaries of $20m and $15m respectively without doing any production on the film. The project was then handed to Hotel Rwanda director, Terry George, who was rumoured to be working on a less harsh version of the script with Don Cheadle attached to Washington's role. Eventually George and Cheadle dropped out and Scott took over the project in early 2006.
