A Soprano for mayor?

James Gandolfini has signed on to co-star with Denzel Washington and John Travolta in the upcoming remake of the 70s thriller THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123. The film follows Travolta as nogoodnik who takes a crowded NYC subway train hostage with Washington as the cop tracking them down. Gandolfini will star as the mayor of New York under “incredible pressure” during the crisis. PELHAM would be Gandolfini’s fifth movie with John Travolta after SHE’S SO LOVELY, LONELY HEARTS, GET SHORTY and A CIVIL ACTION. Gandolfini hasn’t exactly had the best luck when it comes to movies (SURVIVING CHRISTMAS? ALL THE KING’S MEN?) but PELHAM is his first major film project since “The Sopranos” ended its run on HBO. Gandolfini voiced a character in WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and is producing an upcoming Ernest Hemingway biopic he’ll also star in. Filming on PELHAM 123 is currently taking place on soundstages in New York with outside filming at actual subway lines in Queens to take place shortly.