NEW YORK, NY (Top40 Charts/ Honig Company/ Fiore Films) Fiore Films, an independent production company, today announced that critically acclaimed young actor Ben Foster has been signed to play the role of John Gotti, Jr. in the feature film "GOTTI: In The Shadow Of My Father," which will begin pre-production in
September and start principal photography on-location in New York on January 3.
Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson and Academy Award-nominated writer James Toback, the same team that made "Bugsy" which earned ten Academy Award nominations, are completing a revised version of the original screenplay. Levinson is set to direct the all-star cast that also includes John Travolta, Al Pacino and Kelly Preston.
"Barry Levinson was the first director who took a chance on me, and I have a career because of him," said Foster. "This is a film about family, fathers and sons. I am deeply honored for the opportunity to work with Barry and the amazing cast he is assembling to help bring the story of the Gotti family to the screen."
Foster has been nominated for three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and won for his role in the hit HBO series "Six Feet Under."
"He is one of the few young actors who can literary transform himself from role to role, from light comedy to a deadly gunslinger in '3:10 to Yuma,'" said Levinson. "I think he can bring something very memorable to the role of Gotti Jr." Levinson gave Foster one of his first feature-film roles, casting him in "Liberty Heights."
Foster has appeared in films including "The Mechanic" with Jason Statham, "Alpha Dog" with Bruce Willis and Justin Timberlake, "3:10 To Yuma" opposite Russell Crowe and Christian Bale and "X-Men: The Last Stand" with Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry. Foster is represented by William Morris Endeavor. The deal was negotiated for Fiore Films by Steven Beer of Greenberg Traurig.
"We have been interested in Ben from the very start, and I cannot begin to express how excited I am to have him in the movie," said Marc Fiore, president and CEO of Fiore Films and producer of the film. "Ben has proven himself to be one of this generation's finest actors, he is very serious about this role and there is no question in my mind that he is the perfect actor to bring John Gotti, Jr. to the big screen. Both he and his team were very easy to deal with in putting this deal together."
Casting for the film is being handled by Amanda Mackey Johnson and Cathy Sandrich.
Fiore Films acquired life rights from John Gotti, Jr., the son of the late mob boss John Gotti, to the story of his life with his father. The deal marks the first time a member of the Gotti family has entered into an agreement to tell their story for a major motion picture.
"GOTTI: In The Shadow Of My Father" reveals the relationship of a father who lived and died by the mob code and a son who chose to leave that world behind and redeem himself. Never before has there been such an inside look at the life of the Gotti family and their world of danger, betrayal and redemption.
Fiore Films, LLC is a film production company with offices in Los Angeles and New Jersey. Films currently in production or development include, "GOTTI: In The Shadow Of My Father" and "Mob Street." More information is available at www.fiorefilmsllc.com. Updates about the Gotti movie can be found on Twitter @gottimovie.
