'Gotti' release shakeup reports bordered on fake news, says John Travolta

Yesterday, there were speculations swirling about Lionsgate dropping its John Gotti biopic starring John Travolta just 10 days before the movie's scheduled release date.

But, now the actor has given a clarification regarding the news and hit out at what he calls "fake news" regarding the reasons behind the cancellation of his new movie 'Gotti', according to Deadline.

While speaking about the matter, the 63-year-old actor said that he and the production house had mutually cancelled its rollout, and he had then bought it back off them so it could get a wider release with a different distributor, Edward Walson, who is the producer.

He said, "Unfortunately, the reports were speculations bordering on fake news. Lionsgate was planning on a minimal release and I did an investigation into people who might have the interest and financial wherewithal to better release it. Ed is a fan of mine and of the Gotti story and really wanted to see the movie. I invited his group, they saw it and bought it."

The 'American Crime Story' star also shared that the deal with Lionsgate had been concluded over three weeks ago, so the reports that it had been given the axe with under a fortnight to go before its release were wrong in their facts.

"That is the simple explanation for this. It wasn't dropped. It wasn't easy to get Lionsgate to give it up. They said no, twice, and I literally begged them to reconsider and they finally and generously let it go," noted Travolta, adding, "We signed this deal about three weeks ago, to purchase back the film from Lionsgate. Our mistake was we should have said something right then and discussed our plan for the film. We didn't anticipate this speculation that is so grossly wrong."

The flick is a biographical crime drama concerning the life of New York City mafia boss John Gotti, who is portrayed by Travolta. 

-ANI