Executive producer Marty Ingels says that John Travolta will play John Gotti in the remake of HBO's 1996 smash movie "Gotti."
Popeater reports that Travolta and Ingels met with Marc Fiore (the man who purchased the rights to the John Gotti story in September) at a restaurant on LA's west side last night to discuss the deal.
Though Travolta's role is not official, actor/screenwriter Nick Cassavetes (Face Off, Alpha Dog) is rumored to have already begun working on the rewrite.
127 Hours star James Franco is also rumored to be cast as John Gotti Jr.
The highly acclaimed 1996 mob flick won an Emmy and 3 Golden Globe Awards with Armand Assante as mob boss John Gotti, William Forsythe as Sammy "The Bull" Gravano -- along with future Soprano's actors Frank Vincent, Dominic Chianese, Tony Sirico, and Vincent Pastore.
Also co-starring in the original was 2-time Ocsar winner Anthony Quinn as Neil Dellacroce.
No doubt the new version will be edgier and more violent, as all remakes feel they must be. However, it will be difficult to match or surpass director Robert Harmon's original film cast.
Although Travolta has certainly proved that he can be convincing as a mobster in movies like Pulp Fiction and Get Shorty, it will be a tall order to persuade audiences that he is John Gotti.
Did you know? IMDb reports that Gotti, created by HBO as an original movie, became the highest rated telefilm in history. HBO executives were so impressed, it led to the development of their TV series The Sopranos (and the hiring of 4 actors from the movie).
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