Lohan Cast aside

By CYNTHIA R. FAGEN

Lindsay Lohan is on the Gotti hit list the movie, that is.

Its not a good sign when a Post-it is covering over her name on the movie poster for Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father that hangs in the producers office, according to this weeks issue of New York magazine.

Its another bit of comedic drama in the Hollywood gang war that has sent some of the key behind-the-scenes players to the mattresses in the making of John Gotti Jr.s troubled biopic about his Mafia-kingpin dad.

Writer Steve Fishman, who has chronicled the latest woes to befall the sputtering production, recalls taking notice of the Lohan diss during a visit with producer Marc Fiore at his Manalapan, NJ, office.

FUHGEDDABOUDIT: Victoria Gotti, John Travolta and John Gotti Jr. once posed with Lindsay Lohan (right) who later was booted from their mob biopic.

Dave Allocca/Starpix

FUHGEDDABOUDIT: Victoria Gotti, John Travolta and John Gotti Jr. once posed with Lindsay Lohan (right) who later was booted from their mob biopic.

He had a poster of the Gotti movie, though Lohans name was covered by a pink Post-it, he writes.

The struggling rehab actress was slated to play the Gambino godfathers long-suffering wife, a role Lohan snagged using the muscle of Juniors Growing Up Gotti sister, Victoria.

Is there anything you can do? she asked.

Id love to have Lindsay in my movie, Fiore said. Done deal.

Fishman writes that Lohan, who is no stranger to a jail cell or five-fingered jewelry discounts, didnt even know she had been dumped from the movie until after director Barry Levinson told a Cannes festival crowd he wanted to make cast changes! .

He wasnt interested in Lohan, [Levinson] said, which Fiore heard about in an emotional 2 a.m. call from Lohan.

Fiore, a small-time Wall Street crook who went to jail for securities fraud, could do nothing but listen to Lilo bawling like a baby into his ear. But Lohan was in GoodFella company, he said. Movie wiseguy Joe Pesciss name also was unceremoniously blacked out on the movie poster after he sued Levinson for changing his part as the dons best pal.

The Gambino godfather, who withered away from cancer in a prison hospital in 2002, had been a captivating one-man crime show on the New York City stage, swaggering around in handmade suits and smirking from the defense table in court. But Junior has insisted he wants the movie to portray the compassionate side of his ruthless, murdering dad, who will be played by John Travolta for a reported $10 million.

The movie is seen through my eyes, Junior says. Telling that to his father was the toughest thing he ever had to do, he admits. I did feel like he was disappointed. I still do. I have to wrestle with that everyday,.

In the script, probably meant to be a tear-jerker, Gottis mobster role model Aniello Dellacroce, played by Al Pacino, is dying. Gotti crawled into bed with his mentor so they could watch sports together, Fishman writes. The scene convinced Levinson to direct. Thats why I loooove the project he cooed to Fishman.

The script also includes a final face-off with his dad at the supermax prison in Illinois. Junior had been charged with extortion and had wanted to cop a plea deal and do the unthinkable sever ties with the mafia.

The movies climatic scene is when Junior tells his foul-mouthed father he wants closure. Gotti explodes. That word is not in my vocabulary. Thats [for] overeducated, underintelligent motherf-----s ... that word closure.

Junior pleaded guilty anyway and got 7 rather than 25 years. He never saw his father again.