JFK in the Movies: One or Two Oswalds … Not to Mention Rubys and Rosellis?

One of two planned “Mob-dunnit” films is currently in production

At least one of two long-rumored films contending that the Mafia played a leading role in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy appears to be in production in Canada, and there’s photographs to prove it.

The Daily Mail has published images of actor John Travolta dressed for his role as mobster Johnny Roselli in the film “November 1963,” directed by Academy Award winner Roland Joffe (“The Killing Fields”).

Left: John Travolta as Las Vegas mobster Johnny Roselli on the set of “November 1963” (Credit: Daily Mail); Right: Travolta portrays New York Mob boss John Gotti in the 2018 biopic “Gotti” (Credit: Daily Mail/Internet Movie Database)

But the Joffe-helmed production is but one of two films stemming from the same initial script. Academy Award-winner Barry Levinson is pursuing his own parallel film called “Assassination.”

To date both films — born initially of the same writer — have had tumultuous gestation periods.

The original script, called “2 Days/1963,” was penned by Nick Celozzi, great-nephew of Chicago mobster Sam Giancana.

Celozzi claims his script comes from a true story told by Giancana’s brother Pepe, who supposedly spent two days with Chicago-outfit boss Sam as the assassination unfolded.

Celozzi told Deadline that the film is based on “my family story that specifically focuses on the ‘outfit’, Giancana, and their involvement in setting up the ‘assassination’ with the second shooter, who was sent there as a fail-safe backup and implemented.”

Chicago Mob boss Sam Giancana (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet was brought on to work on the script with Celozzi. Mamet was to set to direct, with a cast that included Travolta, Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain. Shia LaBeouf and Louis CK were to play Oswald and Ruby respectively.

However, disagreements ensued. Celozzi said Mamet was introducing too many fictional elements into the script. Mamet was then fired as director.

According to a lawsuit later filed by Celozzi, an agreement was made between the parties that allowed for a non-fiction film to be made based upon his original script and another separate “fictional” film based on the Mamet script. However, he claims in his lawsuit that the Levinson production is still trying to say it is based on his Giancana story.

According to Deadline, a major narrative arc in the Levinson film will be the story of gossip columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, who was found dead in her New York apartment in 1965 (attributed to an accidental overdose).

Kilgallen (who will be played by Chastain) had followed the trial of Jack Ruby closely; she was the only journalist to get a one-on-one interview with Oswald’s killer. She apparently told her lawyer, “I’m going to break the real story and have the biggest scoop of the century.” The FBI shadowed her, records showed. Her sights were set on New Orleans Godfather Carlos Marcello.

In fact, among the “Mob-dunnit” community of assassination conspiracy theorists, many see Marcello as culprit. Former New York Mafia functionary Louis Ferrante, in Vol II of his “Borgata” trilogy, “Clash of Titans” (2025), even claims that Anthony Accardo — described in the Daily Mail as Giancana’s “consigliere” — held the real power in Chicago.

Mugshot of Anthony “Big Tuna” Accardo (Credit: allthatsinteresting.com)

Lamar Waldron, author of “The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination” (2013), also points the finger away from Giancana and toward Marcello and Tampa mobster Santos Trafficante for arranging the hit on President Kennedy.

Carlos Marcello (left) and Santo Trafficante, Jr. in 1966 (Credit: Pinterest)

The cast for “November 1963” includes Jefferson White (“Yellowstone”) as Oswald, Scottish actor Robert Carlyle (“The Full Monty”) as Jack Ruby, and Mandy Patinkin (“Homeland”) as Accardo. Dermot Mulroney also features as hit man Charles Nicoletti.

The Levinson film still includes Chastain and Pacino. Joining that cast are Bryan Cranston and Brendan Fraser. IMDb only specifies a role for Chastain.

Roll Out the Barrel

The CIA had approached Sam Giancana and his associate Roselli to assist in assassinating Communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

In the mid-1970s, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Congress began making inquiries into abuses committed by the CIA.

In June 1975, just before Giancana was set to testify before the Church Committee investigating connections between the Mafia and the CIA, he was found shot dead inside his Illinois home, even though there were police guards posted outside.

Giancana’s death occurred just days before Roselli made his first appearance before the Church Committee. Over the next year Roselli appeared two more times before the committee — with the third session looking expressly into JFK’s assassination.

He had been called back yet again to discuss the assassination when he went missing. Roselli disappeared before he was scheduled to testify before the U.S. Senate. His dismembered body was later found stuffed into a 55-gallon drum floating in Biscayne Bay near Miami, Florida.

The 71-year-old Travolta will likely require a stunt double for that part of the film.