HOLLYWOOD - Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe's new movie American Gangster already has a TV spin-off, which will star another Oscar winner, Forest Whitaker.

As American Gangster hits theaters, cable network Showtime has announced Whitaker will play Harlem drug lord Leroy Barnes in a new drama series called Mr. Untouchable.

Cuba Gooding Jr., yet another Oscar winner, portrays the New York heroin dealer, who was dubbed Mr. Untouchable by the media in the 1970s, in American Gangster.

Whitaker's film will follow the fortunes of Barnes, who built a drug empire that rivaled that of the Mafia.

Mr. Untouchable has no official ties to director Ridley Scott's American Gangster.

http://www.hollywood.com/news/Whitaker_to_Star_in_American_Gangster_TV_Offshoot/4975673