Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle is being sought after to star in the biopic "American Gangster," Variety reports.

However, Cheadle will not be offered the role until his "Hotel Rwanda" director Terry George completes the script.

Cheadle would play Frank Lucas, a Harlem heroin kingpin in the 1970s who, after he was brought to justice, helped end the corruption and legal loopholes that allowed him to import the drug from Southeast Asia, a role once slated to Academy Award winner Denzel Washington.

Cheadle is currently in development of several projects including "Marching Powder," centered around Thomas McFadden, a British drug dealer who spent five years in a Bolivian prison.

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