“Gotti,” a movie that should never have been made, has been postponed. Richard Johnson of the NY Post says Lions Gate has scratched the planned December 15th release date, sending the John Travolta-Kelly Preston feature into the abyss of 2018.
“Entourage” star Kevin Connolly makes “Gotti” his directing debut after several others decamped including Barry Levinson. Travolta, his wife, and daughter Ella Blue had always been attached and eventually filmed this thing. But AL Pacino, Lindsay Lohan and others have come and gone.
My pal, Richard, says producer Marc Fiore hung up on him when Johnson called to ask about a payment due to legendary star Shirley Jones, widow of Marty Ingells, who set up the most recent deal to get “Gotti” made. That wasn’t very nice since Jones is mourning her stepson, David Cassidy.
But Fiore’s rudeness is not unexpected. An ex con, Fiore has a long and unpleasant history. So do most of the people associated with “Gotti.” Why Lions Gate got involved is a mystery.
Christmas and Oscar time were odd choices for a “Gotti” release anyway. Travolta’s not getting an Academy Awards. And a movie about a cut-throat killer with no remorse, but lots of real life victims isn’t what you’d called Happy Holidays material!
I like Kevin Connolly personally. But “Gotti” has got to be a disaster, and an expensive one. Will we ever see it? Who knows! But now we can put it on a death watch with so many unreleased films including Louis CK’s current “I Love You Daddy” and Nick Pritzker’s infamous “Bolden!” now overdue by several years and many hundreds of millions of dollars.
