I came across this Reuters story today by way of Tom O'Neil's Gold Derby blog.  It turns out three former DEA agents are suing Universal Pictures for defamation to the tune of $55 million.  Their claim: the Ridley Scott helmed, Steven Zaillian penned "American Gangster' has "tarnished hundreds of reputations.  Take a look:

Former DEA agents Louis Diaz, Gregory Korniloff and Jack Toal said NBC Universal, the owner of Universal Studios, falsely claimed the movie was based on a true story and misrepresented the events surrounding Lucas and New Jersey Detective Richard Roberts, depicted by Russell Crowe.

The movie hurt the agents' reputations by falsely claiming in text at the end that a collaboration between Lucas and Roberts "led to the convictions of three-quarters of New York City's Drug Enforcement Agency" agents between 1973 and 1985, according to the suit, which seeks class action status.

"With this utterly false and defamatory statement, the defendant has ruined and impugned the reputations of these honest and courageous public servants in the eyes of millions of people," the suit said.

NBC Universal, owned by General Electric, denied the allegations, saying: "American Gangster does not defame these, or any, federal agents."

"The end legend specifically refers to members of 'New York City's Drug Enforcement Agency' -- not the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, where the plaintiffs formerly worked. We believe the lawsuit is entirely without merit," NBC Universal said.

Kinda sounds like the sort of thing that will blow over to me.  So much drama this season.

It seems my Monday item regarding the category placement of Steven Zaillian's "American Gangster" screenplay is being read too hastily as indicative of an actual decision within Universal Pictures.

Nikki Finke clarified the matter yesterday with a comment from Uni that pretty much says the same general thing I did on Monday, that the article was heavily expanded upon, the decision was the guild's and not Uni publicity's and that the studio followed suit for the Oscar campaign.

Got it?

Of course, things can always change in this crazy thing called Oscar season.  I'm not saying as much will happen with "Gangster" or even "In the Valley of Elah," but it's worth recalling the situation with "Syriana" in 2005.

After being nominated by the WGA in the adapted category and nearly winning USC's Scripter Award, Stephen Gaghan's screenplay was designated an original work by the Academy's screenplay committee when someone in the group who had read Robert Baer's "See No Evil" spoke up and said that the script had deviated considerably from that work.

So nothing is ever written in stone just because of For Your Consideration ads, mind you.

Universal Pictures has finally cooked up a one-sheet for Mike Nichols' "Charlie Wilson's War," and I have to say, it's a little bland.  ComingSoon.net has the exclusive.

Word has it the studio is calling the film a "black comedy" and may even be looking to position it in the comedy category for Golden Globe consideration (though this may simply be chatter and speculation on Uni's part getting blown into bigger proportion by the press).  I can't say whether that's the strategy or not, but this psuedo-Hugh Grant-ish, high-key-lit, glossy little thing is certainly a step in that direction.

I thought the script for "Charlie," which has been widely read, it seems, was a biting piece of Aaron Sorkin goodness.  Certainly it had its comedic elements (and the trailer has played up these moments, to be sure), but there was a richness to the drama and socio-political gravitas on the page that could certainly have been cultivated through production.

I guess we'll get a better idea in the coming weeks.  Uni doesn't plan to screen the film until the middle of next month.  Nichols is probably hunched over an Avid somewhere right now shaving frames off a sequence that will likely get cut anyway.  He's meticulous, that one.

Now I know not EVERYONE who comes to this page is an Oscar obssessive with stored-up knowledge on the season.  So if you haven't read George Crile's book and want some backdrop on the "Charlie" plot, take a look at the Charlie Wilson Wikipedia page.

It seems Universal Pictures will be campaigning Steven Zaillian's screenplay for "American Gangster" in the original screenplay category this year at the Oscars.  But conventional wisdom had it that the script was based on Mark Jacobson's New York Magazine article "The Return of Superfly," which recounted the life and times of Frank Lucas (portrayed by Denzel Washington in the film).

The fact is there is actually no major mention of Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe's cleaner-than-thou cop) in the article and that the screenplay was "not based on the article at all," according to somone close to the campaign.  "Articles in magazines or newspapers," he adds, "are oftentimes not enough for the [writers] branch or WGA to measure it as a 'based on.'"

The things we learn along the way.  Though I probably could have just been a little more observant at my screening of "Gangster" last month during the closing credits.

Also, a brief glance at a "For Your Consideration" ad for the film "In the Valley of Elah" shows that Warner Independent is going with the original screenplay rather than positioning it as adapted from the article Mark Boal wrote for Playboy in 2005.  Maybe there's something to this.

I called the guild to inquire about these designations and a representative (a rather snooty one, mind you -- but I guess there's a lot going on over there this week, huh?) said that there is indeed a gray area with magazine articles.  It's not like a novel or a play.  An article could be telling a story but have no narrative to speak of, and that's kind of the situation with "American Gangster."

I haven't read Boal's article, so I can't speak to that.

•  Sasha Stone thinks "The Kite Runner" has the stuff to win Best Picture. [Awards Daily]

•  Through Jeffrey Wells, Universal Pictures publicity clears up rumors concernign re-shoots on awards contender "Charlie Wilson's War." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Tom O'Neil, meanwhile, offers some rumor-busting of his own -- concerning category placement for Helena Bonham Carter in "Sweeney Todd." [Gold Derby]

•  Jason Reitman's "Juno" takes top prize at Rome Film Festival. [Reuters]