The last time the life and times of John Gotti were given the high-profile film or television treatment, John Travolta played the notorious mobster in a biopic that tanked at the box office, earned a zero percent Rotten Tomatoes score, launched an internal investigation into its manipulated audience rating, and earned six Razzie nominations.
Clearly, those with a vested interest in true crime were crying out for something a little more polished, with Netflix riding to the rescue through three-part docuseries Get Gotti. The fascination with the criminal underworld continues unabated, so there’s not really any shocks to be found after discovering the latest deep dive from the team behind Fear City has debuted as the number one most-watched episodic title among subscribers in the United States, per FlixPatrol.
In addition, Get Gotti landed on the Top 10 in an additional 62 countries to arrive as the third-biggest hit on the global rankings, so the fascination is evidently a global phenomenon. Opening in 1985 and tracing the man dubbed either the “Dapper Don” or the “Teflon Don” for his extravagant lifestyle and questionable ability to never be charged for his crimes, Get Gotti chronicles his astonishing rise and eventual downfall, told by the people who were heavily involved in his operations on either side of the law.
Rising to the top of America’s most powerful mafia family and becoming the most-surveilled person in New York as a result, it was a public execution and unexpected informant that greased the wheels for his downfall, with Netflix users enamored regardless of whether or not they know the story.