'Tru Blu' has liftoff at Imagine
Zaillian script may be in prod'n by late summer
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Denzel Washington and helmer Antoine Fuqua are in negotiations to reunite on a biopic of Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas.
Under the working title "Tru Blu," pic is being produced by Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment for Universal Pictures.
Washington and Fuqua last collaborated on 2001's "Training Day," which garnered Washington an Oscar.
Imagine and U hope to go into production on "Blue" late this summer.
Lucas grew up in rural, segregated North Carolina. In the early 1970s, he became the biggest heroin dealer in Harlem with a smuggling scheme that imported the stuff out of Southeast Asia in the caskets of Vietnam soldiers.
Script, penned by Steven Zaillian, centers on narcotics lawman Richie Roberts' struggle to bring down Lucas, whose flamboyant style earned him the street name "Superfly." Lucas goes on to help Roberts hunt down dirty cops and overseas connections (Daily Variety, April 2, 2001).
Project is based on a New York magazine story by Mark Jacobson and life rights deals for Lucas and Roberts.
U vice chair Scott Stuber is supervising "Blue" for the studio. Imagine exec VP Jim Whitaker is overseeing.
"Wiseguy" and "Casino" author Nick Pileggi exec produces the pic.
Disney will release Fuqua's medieval epic "King Arthur" July 7.
Washington recently wrapped the remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" at Paramount. It's set to unspool July 30. He'll next appear in Fox 2000's "Man on Fire," due out April 23.
