Forest Whitaker to star in prequel series to American Gangster

Actor Forest Whitaker is attached to star in a prequel TV series to "American Gangster".

The series is being developed by "Narcos" co-creator Chris Brancato and will be based on the life of mob boss Bumpy Johnson, according to the Screen Daily.

Whitaker will be playing the lead character in the prequel series to the Ridley Scott-directed film, which featured Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

The story will be based five years before the events in the original film.

"It's Harlem, the 1960s, a gangster named Bumpy Johnson was very close friends with Malcom X, so the show is about the collision of the criminal underworld and the civil rights movement," Brancato said.
 

The writer said the show is an opportunity to examine racism prevalent today "but through the prism of the past".