EXCLUSIVE Believe it or not, “Gotti” is back.
You may recall the long story of this ill fated film. I reported a lot about it starting around five years ago when Barry Levinson was going to direct it and Al Pacino was the star. James Toback wrote the script. John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Ben Foster and Lindsay Lohan were in the mix.
The problem was the financing, and that most of the people were former felons with shady backgrounds and connections. One of them was Marc Fiore, once subject of a book about a ‘boiler room’ operation that went bad. Then be brought in Sal Carpanzano. It was like “Get Shorty” come to life.
The whole thing fell apart several times. But Travolta has persevered for better or worse.
Now the director is Kevin Connolly, of “Entourage” fame. I don’t know who wrote this script. But Travolta and Preston are definitely in. So is Emmet Furla Oasis Films and producer Tim Sullivan. It’s unclear if Fiore is still part of the equation since it was always his project with John Gotti Jr. Casting has begun in earnest. I’m told that shooting is set for next month in New York and Cincinnati, Ohio, which is supposed to look like New York with a tax break.
Connolly is a good guy, maybe he can pull it off. But this movie has been jinxed from the get go. Still, you know what you want to see whatever they come up with. After playing Robert Shapiro, Travolta can certainly play John Gotti.
