Chapter 27

Chapter 27 is a 2007 biographical film depicting the murder of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman in December 1980, serving as an exploration of the latter's psyche. Written and directed by Jarrett Schaefer (in his directorial debut), based on the 1992 nonfictionbook Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon by Jack Jones, the film stars Jared Leto as Chapman, with Judah Friedlander and Lindsay Lohan in supporting roles. Its title is in reference to J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye, which has 26 chapters, and suggests a continuation of the book. As an independent production, it was picked up for distribution by Peace Arch Entertainment and premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival where it received polarized reactions from critics. It later went into limited theatrical release in the United States on March 28, 2008. Chapter 27 was cited as one of the most controversial films of 2007. It received the Debut Feature Prize for Schaefer at the Zurich Film Festival, where Leto also won Best Performance for his portrayal of Chapman.