Posted on: April 14, 2023, 08:01h.
Last updated on: April 14, 2023, 08:04h.
When regulars at the Scarlet Pearl look up from their “Wheel of Fortune” machines, one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors isn’t normally a sight they expect to see. But John Travolta is currently shooting a film at the D’Iberville, Mississippi casino.
“They’re here for a month,” Scarlet Pearl Casino CEO LuAnn Pappas told the Biloxi Sun Herald, adding that “it causes a lot of excitement” whenever Travolta enters the casino floor, and that the actor — best known for playing Danny Zuko in 1978’s “Grease” and Vincent Vega in 1994’s “Pulp Fiction — is gracious to guests.
Directed by Randall Emmett — whose cinematic resume includes last year’s “Savage Salvation,” starring Robert De Niro and John Malkovich — the new film is called “Cash Out.” It’s a bank heist thriller co-starring rapper Quavo, Kristin Davis (“Sex and the City”) and Noel Gugliemi (“Training Day”). Lukas Haas (“Inception”) plays Travolta’s son.
According to the newspaper, some of the casino’s dealers, a pit boss, and a cocktail server were all cast in small parts in the film. And local residents were over the moon when the exotic cars they owned — which were parked in front of the Scarlet Pearl — ended up in a scene in which Travolta entered the casino.
Casino Barbarino
“It’s really great for the area,” Pappas said, adding that the film’s cast and crew have been dining at the casino and around town after wrapping each day.
Opened in 2015, the $290M Scarlet Pearl Casino boasts 68K square feet of gaming space and 300 hotel rooms. On October 1, 2019, it made other national news when its sportsbook accepted one of the largest sports bets in history — Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale’s $3.5M wager on the Houston Astros to win that year’s World Series. Mack placed an additional $2.7M on the same outcome, all of which he lost when the Washington Nationals won the series, 4-3.
Other parts of “Cash Out” were filmed last June at a Synovus bank in Columbus, Georgia, with a special response team from the Muscogee County Sherriff’s Office starring as SWAT team members.
In February, Travolta celebrated his 69th birthday at another casino, Wynn Las Vegas, and Casino.org’s own Vital Vegas blog got the scoop.