Cannes: John Travolta’s ‘Gotti’ to Get Private Screening

May 2, 2018

Gotti, the biopic starring John Travolta as mob boss John V. Gotti, is heading to Cannes, where it will screen May 15, festival organizers confirmed Wednesday.

The film will have “its world premiere as a special gala screening in the Palais des Festivals at Cannes,” the festival said. Sunrider Productions’ Edward Walson also made the announcement.

The fest described the screening, which does not appear to be part of the official lineup, as “a private presentation in the presence of John Travolta and [festival director] Thierry Fremaux”. It will be held in the Salle Bunuel, one of the smaller screening rooms in the Palais, rather that in that facility’s two main venues, the Grand Lumiere or the Debussy.

The festival also announced today that Travolta will take part in a master class conversation with critic Didier Allouch on May 16. And that evening he will mark the 40th anniversary of Grease by introducing the film at a Movies on the Beach screening.

Director Kevin Connolly, Travolta and his co-stars Kelly Preston and Stacey Keach are expected to be on hand for Gotti‘s world premiere.

With a screenplay adapted from Gotti’s memoir Shadow of My Father, the script was written by Lem Dobbs and Leo Rossi and dramatizes Gotti’s rise to power as boss of the Gambino crime family.

“To have our world premiere as part of the most prestigious film festival in the world is quite an honor,” Travolta said as part of the announcement. “I would like to thank festival director Thierry Fremaux for including Gotti as part of the festival events.”

The film, produced by Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films alongside Highland Film Group and Fiore Films, with Randall Emmett, George Furla and Michael Froch serving as producers, is slated to be released in the U.S. on June 15.

By Gregg Kilday: The Hollywood Reporter