Cassavetes won't direct Gotti film

Nick Cassavetes directing the John Gotti movie? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Actor-filmmaker Cassavetes, son of New York indie icon John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands, has pulled out of the controversial production about the late mob boss, a spokesman for Fiore Films told the trade magazine Variety yesterday. He cited scheduling conflicts with the director's independent dramedy "Yellow."

On-and-off production on "Yellow," starring and co-written by Cassavetes' wife, Heather Wahlquist, began in Octoberand stills from the movie were shown at the European Film Market in Berlin earlier this year. Production on "Gotti: Three Generations" remains scheduled to begin in New York City in October.

"This film 'Yellow' has been a pet project of his for awhile," said Fiore spokesman Steve Honig. Producer Marc Fiore "thought they could avoid a scheduling conflict, but they couldn't so Marc released him from his commitment so he could go and finish his film."

Cassavetes' spokeswoman told Newsday, "I can confirm that Nick Cassavetes will not direct the film 'Gotti: Three Generations.' "

Fiore is seeking a new director.

Cassavetes had ballyhooed the film as recently as April 12, when he was part of a large-scale Manhattan news conference announcing it, alongside star John Travolta, producer Fiore, and John A. Gotti, son of gangster John Gotti.

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"We're going to make a movie that has a lot of warts," he said at the time, while also praising Gotti as an anti-government rebel. "To live in this life, we have to live in relationship with the government. And every time that John Gotti got on trial and won, we won. And I think that we're gonna explore that.""Yellow," which Cassavetes also co-wrote, features Hank Azaria, Melanie Griffith, Sienna Miller, David Morse, Luke Wilson and Cassavetes' mother, Rowlands. His past films as director include "John Q" (2002), "The Notebook" (2004) and "Alpha Dog" (2006).