The Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe true-life crime thriller American Gangster is only just hitting cinemas and yet Universal (and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment) have obviously decided that they want to stay in the mag article-based genre.

The companies have joined forces once more to buy all rights associated with The Knife, a New York magazine article written by journalist Guy Lawson, which chronicles a Crips gang member in LA’s South Central who turned informant for the FBI and helped agent Tim Flaherty crack slayings, drugs and weapons-deal cases. As seems to be the norm these days, the studio has bought the article before it’s even hit the stands – the magazine doesn’t arrive until January.

There’s no word on a director or cast yet, but we can’t wait to see the security for the eventual movie’s after-party, especially since the gang member’s identity is being kept a close secret for some obvious reasons: “No, I’m sorry Mr. Huntah-Killa, if your name is not on the list, you are not coming in. I don’t care how many times you call me a bi-yotch…”

And if the companies are still on the lookout for hard-hitting investigative pieces, we can sell them one about the mystery of the Ed’s missing paper clips…