Ben Foster has joined the cast of Barry Levinson’s Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father in the part of John Gotti Jr.
The film, which adapts John Gotti’s life from the point of view of his son, is set to star John Travolta, Al Pacino, Lindsay Lohan and Kelly Preston. Joe Pesci was formerly attached, but has been vocally displeased with the production’s decision to recast his role and is currently engaged with a lawsuit dealing with the recasting. How that ultimately affects his involvement remains to be seen.
The rights to the story, which, in reality ended with the death of Gotti in prison in 2002, are held by Marc Fiore and his Fiore Films where actor Leo Rossi supplied the original screenplay, which is being rewritten by Levinson.
Levinson previously worked with Foster in one of his first roles, 1999’s Liberty Heights. Foster most recently appeared opposite Jason Statham in The Mechanic.
Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father will span Gotti’s rise to power in the last two decades of the 20th century, and, despite some setbacks, is still expected to go into production shortly.
(Photo Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN.com)
