Chapter 27Chapter 27 is an independent film depicting the assassination of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman. J. P. Schaefer, making his directorial debut, also wrote the script. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2007 and the Berlin Film Festival in February. Though savaged by most critics, who described the movie as a vanity project lacking in insight, it did receive positive reviews in Salon, The Hollywood Reporter, and Entertainment Weekly. The film has yet to land a U.S. distributor, but has been picked up for theatrical distribution in Europe, Asia, and South America.
Plot and Title
The movie is intended to be a deep exploration of Chapman's psyche, without putting substantial emphasis on the murder. The title "Chapter 27" suggests a continuation of J.D. Salinger's classic novel The Catcher in the Rye, which ends on chapter 26. Chapman attempted to model his life after Holden Caulfield, the main character of the book and was carrying a copy when he shot Lennon.
According to the prestigious Spanish-language newsweekly Proceso [1], and other Latin American publications, the title was also inspired by Chapter 27 in Robert Rosen's book Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon, which explores the numerological meaning of 27, “the triple 9,” a number of profound importance to John Lennon, who was obsessed with numerology, Cheiro’s Book of Numbers, and 9 and all its multiples. Lennon, born October 9, 1940—his son Sean Lennon was born October 9, 1975, his wife Yoko Ono was born February 18, 1933, and his songwriting partner with the Beatles, Paul McCartney, was born June 18, 1942—wrote such songs as Revolution 9, Number 9 Dream, and One After 909, and was essentially reborn as an American when, after a long legal battle, he received his green card on July 27, 1976. Though Lennon was murdered around 11 p.m. on December 8, 1980, it was already December 9 in England, the country of his birth. It was Chapman’s goal, according to Rosen, to write Chapter 27 "in Lennon’s blood."
The plot of the movie itself was drawn from the Chapman biography Let Me Take You Down, by Jack Jones, who is given a screen credit. Let Me Take You Down, however, provides no information on the numerological meaning of Chapter 27, and fails to show how Chapter 27 played into the heart of Lennon’s obsession with numerology, Cheiro, the number 9, and all its multiples.
Stars
Jared Leto will play Chapman. In addition to Leto, Lindsay Lohan agreed to star in the movie as Jude for a lucrative $29 million dollars, a friend of Chapman's. Michael Moon has also agreed to co-star in the movie. Production began on January 9th with much controversy and has since then resumed until March 2006. John Lennon is portrayed by Mark Lindsay Chapman, an actor who has portrayed Lennon once before. His name is purely coincidental.
Cast
* Ursula Abbott — Jeri
* George Bryant II — Limo driver
* Kevin Cannon — Precision Driver/Street Hood
* Melissa Demyan — Lennon Groupie
* Jeane Fournier — European Woman
* Judah Friedlander — Paul
* Molly Griffith — Cover girl/Centerfold
* Matthew Humphreys — Frederic Seaman
* Jared Leto — Mark David Chapman
* Lindsay Lohan — Jude
* Michael Moon — John Lennon
* Katie McGlawn — Richard Nixon
* Redman Maxfield — Maître d'
* Lauren Milberger — Gilda Radner
* Matthew Nardozzi — Little Kid
* Brian O'Neill — Patrick
* Adam Scarimbolo — Clerk Riley
* Michael Sirow — Joseph Many
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