Crime biopic Gotti: Three Generations seemed to have its director sorted only a couple of weeks ago, but a sudden shake-up has seen Barry Levinson sign on to helm the story of the Gotti family. He'll take over from Nick Cassavetes, who's been forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with his indie drama Yellow.
John Travolta is still aboard as Gotti Sr, the Gambini Family mobster convicted in 1992 of murder, extortion, racketeering, loan-sharking, illegal gambling and, just like Al Capone, tax evasion. The all-round goodfella died in prison in 2002.
His story will be viewed from the point-of-view of his son John Jr (yet to be cast) who himself wasn't unknown to the law. He served a nine-year sentence for racketeering, but insists he's now on the straight-and-narrow. That ought to be a relief to the team behind Three Generations, on which he's a producer.
Levinson, of course, has previous gangster-bio form in 1991's Bugsy, starring Warren Beatty. This time around, along with Travolta, he'll be wrangling Joe Pesci as capo Angelo Ruggiero, and Linsey Lohan as Kim Gotti, the wife of John Jr (she was originally set to play Victoria, his sister, but her role was switched).
Shooting with Cassavetes was due to start this month, but production has now been put back to the autumn to give new boy Levinson time to prepare. His most recent film, Lionsgate horror film The Bay, is stlll waiting for a release date.