The infamous story of New York mobster John Gotti will hit the silver screen in a new John Travolta-starring biopic. Kevin Connolly, best known for playing Eric “E.” Murphy on Entourage, will direct.
Written by Leo Rossi and Lem Dobbs, the film tells the tale of how Gotti climbed the ranks to lead the Gambino crime family, as well as the so-called “Teflon Don’s” eventual downfall.
Gotti will be Connolly’s first time directing a film of this magnitude. Like his character en Entourage, Connolly grew up close to the New York City turf where Gotti once reigned as kingpin, but it’ll be a big step up for the actor, whose prior directing credits include episodes of his HBO series, and a small film called Gardener of Eden.
After sitting in pre-production purgatory, it appears the film is finally coming together — with funding from Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, Fiore Films, and Herrick Entertainment — several years since it was first announced in 2010. While no other actors are currently attached to the project, talent like Lindsay Lohan, Al Pacino, Ben Foster, and Joe Pesci have all been linked to the film in previous iterations, according to the report.
Other film credits for E/F/O include the Michael Polish-directed 90 Minutes in Heaven (opening on Friday), and the Universal-released Everest (opening on September 25). Herrick was previously involved with a couple of Mark Wahlberg-starring films from 2013: Lone Survivor and 2 Guns (also starring Denzel Washington).
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Travolta in a starring role of this magnitude, and with Connolly helming his first big studio project, there are a lot of unknown variables riding along with the new film. Production starts is slated for January, so we’ll find out more about this long-awaited project soon enough.
