Nicholas Maggio, writer-director of new John Travolta film Mob Land

<b><i>MOB LAND</i> SYNOPSIS</b> <br /> <br />In a small town struggling with addiction, a local sheriff (John Travolta) tries to maintain the peace when desperate family man Shelby (Shiloh Fernandez) robs a pill mill. The supposedly easy score takes a violent turn, alerting the New Orleans mafia's revenge-seeking enforcer. <br /><br />Here's the trailer: <br /><br /><a href="https://www.lionsgate.com/videos/mob-land-2023-official-trailer-john-travolta" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.lionsgate.com/videos/mob-land-2023-official-trailer-john-travolta</a><br /> <br /><b>NICHOLAS MAGGIO INTERVIEW WITH MOVIEWEB</b> <b><br /></b><br /><br />Here's a case for catharsis through creativity. Writer/director Nicholas Maggio made the new John Travolta action thriller Mob Land for his 13-year-old self. "I was 13 and in my friend's basement in Pennsylvania, and we got a copy of the VHS for Reservoir Dogs," Maggio admitted. "I remember having my mind just absolutely blown that this was all possible. I didn't know that film because I grew up with my dad. We watched Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia. We didn't watch French Connection or Bullet. I had never seen this gritty kind of film before. <br /><br />"That's when I fell in love with filmmaking," he quickly added. "I fell in love with what film could be, especially the independent films of the 1990s." Decades later, Maggio has given birth to a gritty action-packed tale, which he co-wrote with Rob Healy.<br /><br />The story takes place deep in the heart of Dixie, where a small town is struggling with a rise in addiction. An intrepid sheriff (John Travolta) keeps things in check as best as he can, but when Shelby, a frenetic family man (Shiloh Fernandez of Evil Dead) robs a pill mill with Trey (Kevin Dillon of Entourage), his reckless brother-in-law, things turn dire. The New Orleans mafia enters the picture, and the action kicks up.<br /><br />Curiously, Nicholas Maggio was inspired to create the tale, thanks to an unconventional encounter about seven years