Joe Johnson, the man behind CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, is said to have signed on to direct biopic GOTTI.
Focusing on the life of violent gangster John Gotti, the project has been in several states over the past year (at one point troubled star Lindsay Lohan was said to have joined the cast). However, what we do know is that John Travolta will definitely play Gotti, with him describing it as ‘a long time coming’:
“I’m looking forward to portraying John Gotti – it’s been a long time coming. And I think that Johnson is an exciting and fresh addition to the vision of the film. We are all looking forward to starting production.”
Johnson has said:
“I think we’ve always been fascinated with the idea of the romantic outlaw. John Gotti could be in one instance a charismatic, kind and loving family man, and in another, deadly to his enemies. The opportunity to tell the true story of Gotti with John Travolta is a director’s dream.”
It’d be really good to see Travolta take this on as a ‘method acting’ piece. We’ve seen other actors take on exciting, challenging roles and really push themselves to live the life of their character, which I think Travolta is capable of doing.
As with many biopics GOTTI is based on a book, written by his son John A. Gotti. Filming is said to start in September, based in New York. Once finished, the film will be shown at an upcoming Cannes Film Festival, where the global market will have the chance to pick up the film.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
