John Travolta, who may or may not have been put on this earth for the sole purpose of one day portraying John Gotti, will portray the legendary and notorious mob boss in a new biopic, The Life and Times of John Gotti, which began filming in Cincinnati this month. Travolta’s real-life wife, Kelly Preston, will portray Gotti’s wife in the film. Sole purpose, amirite?
Gotti, was we know, was one of New York’s most feared crime mob bosses, known for organizing the high-profile murder of rival boss Paul Castellano, and racking up hundreds of millions of dollars through a plethora of illegal businesses, from extortion to hijacking. It’s virtually impossible to have any substantial conversation about New York’s organized crime history–or America’s, for that matter–without a discussion on the Gotti’s 1980’s run.
So, it begs the question. Why film any portion of the movie in Ohio? According to The Seattle Times, the Life and Times filmmakers are attempting to take advantage of a recently revised Motion Picture Tax Credit in the state of Ohio, which reimburses out-of-state movie producers to an extent.
Travolta recently made headlines for his portrayal of a man on the other side of the law: O.J. Simpson‘s attorney Robert Shapiro in The People vs. O.J. Simpson. Travolta has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy award for the role.
