19 Years Later, Denzel Washington’s 157-Minute Crime Epic Returns to Netflix

On their own, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe have both shown they’re more than capable of carrying powerful blockbuster films and awards contenders alike. The former has a pair of Oscars to his name in a supporting role for Glory and a leading turn in Training Day, with further acclaimed performances in Fences, Malcolm X, Gladiator 2, and last year’s Highest 2 Lowest that show off his versatility. Crowe, meanwhile, has been a similarly enduring presence in Hollywood, with a particularly impressive stretch of work from 2000 to 2002, where he earned two Academy Award nominations for The Insider and A Beautiful Mind and a win for his landmark performance as Maximus in the original Gladiator. Putting them together at their heights, then, seems like a recipe for success.

However, only twice have the two stars shared the screen in the same project. The first came in 1995 with director Brett Leonard‘s out-there sci-fi thriller Virtuosity, which cast a young Washington as a former cop, and a young Crowe as a soulless AI trained on the worst serial killers in history. Despite the talent involved, it was a disaster panned by critics and ignored by audiences at the box office, but 12 years later, they came back together for something much more favorable in a reunion between Crowe and director Ridley Scott. American Gangster was released in 2007 and was met with far more acclaim, including a Certified Fresh 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a pair of Oscar nominations, and now it’s heading to a new streamer.

Starting on April 1, Netflix will add the historical crime drama to its catalog, bringing two of Washington and Crowe’s best performances to the platform. Washington played the titular gangster, Frank Lucas, who grew a criminal empire in Harlem by smuggling drugs into the U.S. in the coffins of soldiers brought home from the Vietnam War, while Crowe starred as strait-laced detective Richie Roberts, who aimed to bring Frank to justice amid the city’s changing power dynamics. The script by Steve Zaillian was criticized for its lack of historical accuracy, but that didn’t stop it from making a cool $269.8 million at the box office and being appreciated for the work of its stars. Ted Levine, John Ortiz, Josh Brolin, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ruby Dee, Lymari Nadal, and Cuba Gooding Jr. rounded out the cast.

What’s Next for Washington and Crowe?

Washington’s next high-profile feature is just around the corner, teaming him with Robert Pattinson and Daisy Edgar-Jones instead of Crowe. The trio is set to star in Netflix’s Here Comes the Flood, directed by Fernando Meirelles, penned by Simon Kinberg, and expected to be released as early as the end of 2026. Finer details have been kept under wraps, but it’s billed as a heist thriller centered on “a bank guard, a teller, and a master thief” who become entangled in a web of double-crosses and cheats. Crowe, meanwhile, is currently hard at work on the set of Chad Stahelski‘s Highlander remake, but his next film, Beast, is also just around the corner. Premiering on April 10, it casts him as the trainer of an ex-MMA champion (Daniel McPherson) who has to enter the ring one last time to fight the current title-holder, protect his brother, and save everything he built during his reign.

American Gangster brings Washington and Crowe together on Netflix on April 1. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the biggest titles coming to and leaving streaming throughout the year.