I can't wait to check out American Gangster this weekend, and apparently Universal and Imagine are pretty high on it as well. They're already working on another true crime drama about men on opposing sides of the law. They have bought the rights to make "The Knife," an investigative article by Guy Lawson, into a feature film. The intriguingly-haired Brian Grazer will produce. "The Knife" will be published in the January issue of GQ. Lawson is quite the hot writer right now, HBO is making his book The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia into a mini-series produced by Dick Wolf.

According to Variety, the title of "The Knife" refers to "the code name given to a Crips member in South Central who became an informant and collaborated for a decade with FBI agent Tim Flaherty to crack murder, drug and arms-deal cases." Sweeeeet. I love crime movies. The gang member's identity is still being kept secret, apparently he's living a Henry Hill-style life. Who do you see in these roles? Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are two of the best actors in the game, but they're somewhat safe choices for their roles in American Gangster. Let's say you're a casting director -- who would you cast as the gang member and Flaherty? I'd like to see a fresh pairing, maybe...Chris Tucker and Paul Giamatti? Check out James' American Gangster review here and Ryan's junket report on the film here.

• Denzel Washington starring in and possibly directing a Brian Grazer-produced adaptation of 2003 biography In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr., written by Wil Haywood. Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures have teamed up for this movie. This is the one I'm betting will prevail, simply because of the big-name talent behind it.
• Andre Benjamin (aka Andre 3000) starring in Sammy and Kim, about Davis's affair with actress Kim Novak in the 1950s, which drew a lot of controversy at the time. The sensationalist aspect of this story could potentially draw a lot of crowds.
• New Line is finalizing a deal to adapt Davis's best-selling autobiography from 1965, Yes, I Can, which was actually written by Jane and Burt Boyar. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have produced Chicago and Hairspray, are attached as producers. This biopic is endorsed by Davis's widow, but no lead actor has yet been named.
  
• A documentary is also in the running, also based on Yes, I Can, and using Burt Boyar's filmed interviews with Davis. This sounds like it might be a good alternate, smaller film that would clarify facts that might balance out a more sensational, fictionalized biopic.

The next project for Angelina Jolie will be a Clint Eastwood film about corruption in the LAPD, Variety reported last night. The Changeling, from a script by J. Michael Straczynski (World War Z), has been fast-tracked by Universal Pictures, the studio that housed Jolie's last film, the C.I.A. drama The Good Shepherd. Production is slated to begin in late 2007, with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard producing, along with Malpaso honcho Rob Lorenz. The story is based on events that occurred in 1920s L.A., but it's not clear whether a historical or contemporary approach will be taken with the project.

Jolie's role will be that of a woman whose son is abducted and then returned -- but she thinks the child that's returned is not hers. Somehow this leads into a revelation of deep-seated corruption in the LAPD. According to the article, Ron Howard was originally tapped to direct the film, but ultimately turned it down in favor of adapting "Frost/Nixon" into a feature film. Jolie will next be seen in A Mighty Heart, the story of Mariane and Daniel Pearl, and will lend her voice to Robert Zemeckis's Beowulf as Grendel's mother. Interestingly, the Variety article also gives some credence to the notion that that Jolie has made a firm time-commitment to her long-time pet project Atlas Shrugged, which Randall Wallace has written for Lionsgate. Cinematical asked Jolie directly in December what the status of Atlas Shrugged was, and you can read her response here.

Only a couple days after his death, the wheels in Hollywood were turning and Spike Lee has been brought on to direct a biopic based on the life of James Brown. Now, it's important to keep in mind that this project has been in development for quite some time -- Jezz and John Henry Butterworth recently turned in a rewrite of Steve Baigelman's original draft, and all three have either met with Brown before he passed away or spent time with his "people." I do feel, however, that they could have waited -- I don't know -- a bit longer than 48 hours to announce the decision. Ya know, that would have been the "normal" thing to do, I suppose.

Nevertheless, Lee will once again team up with Paramount and Imagine Entertainment (who have already tapped the man to direct a feature based on the L.A. Riots, as well as a sequel to Inside Man) and are looking to swing into production sometime during the latter part of 2007. Seeing as the L.A. Riots pic is the main priority, that will come first and will either be followed by Inside Man 2 (I really hope they don't call it that) or the Brown biopic. Since I assume Paramount will want to deliver the Brown biopic will a little bow around it that reads 'Oscar Potential," it's pretty safe to say it will debut in the fall or late summer of 2008.

Spike Lee directing a biopic based on a legendary performer? What do you think about that? Oh, and who do they get to play James Brown?