Since our last update on
Gotti: Three Generations, there's been a fair amount of talent shake-up to report on. First, after
Lindsay Lohan's latest (and ridiculously short) jail stint - the actress dropped out of the film,
only to then surprisingly be re-instated and now as long as nothing else dramatic happens in her life will appear as Kim Gotti, the wife of John Gotti Jr, the son of the notorious head of the Gambino family (
John Travolta). Then a few days ago veteran Oscar winning director
Barry Levinson (Rain Man) was brought in to helm the picture after previous helmer
Nick Cassavetes bailed last month. Now
Variety reports that Gotti is becoming something of an odd Travolta family affair as his wife
Kelly Preston and their daughter
Ella Bleu have just joined the cast as the wife and daughter of Travolta's Gotti Sr. Something tells me the tale of Gotti has really sunk into Travolta's skin and we already know that the actor has met with John Gotti Jr several times before agreeing to make the film. This is perhaps Travolta's most personal project in a while. Gotti: Three Generations will tell the story of when Gotti Sr passed the gangster torch to his son in 1988 and Gotti Jrs struggle to change and go in a different direction with his life. Having been released from a 9 year prison stint in 2009 and having been tried and not convicted on several racketeering cases in the last decade, Gotti Jr believes a new movie will put the record straight so everyone can move on.
Joe Pesci was recently cast as Angelo Ruggiero the high-ranking mobster and close friend to Gotti. The lead role of John Gotti Jr, who lives in the shadow of his father and wants to leave the gangster life, has yet to be cast. Principal photography begins in October in New York with Fiori Films, a company whose only credit to date is the straight-to-dvd fare National Lampoons One, Two, Many are financing and producing the $15 million project. Perhaps they had run out of money and Travolta's family agreed to work for no fee!