I wondered aloud in the last weekend wrap-up why anyone would give a shit whether or not Lindsay Lohan ended up in the forthcoming John Gotti movie, especially when the director was still not set in stone. It’s likely the case that most chewers weren’t all that concerned, but it was still annoying for the film to attract so much attention over a minor casting note when such a large player was still being sought. Now that role has been filled though, and with a director sporting serious mobster cred- Barry Levinson. The consistently-working Levinson was nominated for an Oscar for his work on Bugsy (a not-so-accurate retelling of the birth of “Golden Age” Vegas), and he’s also known for directing films like The Natural, Rain Man, Wag The Dog, and most recently, You Don’t Know Jack.
Levinson is replacing Nick Cassavetes (whose name I screwed up in the aforementioned video), who dropped out due to scheduling issues. Now Barry will direct a cast that includes John Travolta, Lohan, and Joe Pesci.
There remains the weird sense that this production has an especially high amount of ego and drama revolving around it, one that is likely the result of the fame-whore Gotti family being so closely involved, and of course Lohan and Travolta bringing their own baggage. Levinson adds a little bit of weight and respectability to the production, and while I didn’t get to catch You Don’t Know Jack, he landed an Emmy for it. Can’t be that bad, right? He’s definitely a more blatantly responsible, experienced choice for director- a good strategic move for the production, and one that will hopefully result in a better overall movie. The only thing that really matters.
Late 2012 is the target release for Gotti: Three Generations. I’m sure we’ll have more info when the film starts shooting and we have our first look at Travolta in full mob mode. Should be fun.
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Source | Variety (via Dark Horizons)