Current events spurred John Lennon documentary to gain steam

The director of the upcoming documentary, The U.S. vs. John Lennon, says that current events mirroring the U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam helped the project gain steam. The film chronicles Lennon's four-year battle to remain in America during the height of the Nixon administration.

David Leaf, one of the film's directors, told The Hollywood Reporter that "it really wasn't until the post-9/11 world that we started to get traction, particularly in the wake of the invasion of Iraq when people at the studios and the networks started to feel that this story about something that happened a long time ago might have some contemporary relevance and resonance."

Leaf, who wrote, produced and directed the film with partner John Scheinfeld, told us that Lennon's music almost serves as one of the film's narrators: "One of the things that so remarkable to me about John's music in this movie, is that it sounds as if these songs were written specifically for the film. The music advances the story, it tells us what John was feeling, and when we're looking at events that John wasn't part of, the music allows John to comment on them. So, it really is a gift that we've got almost 40 John Lennon songs in this movie."

The U.S. vs. John Lennon opens in New York and Los Angeles on September 15th, followed by a wider release at the end of September.

The film's soundtrack, which will be released in September 26th, includes such Lennon solo classics such as "Give Peace A Chance," "Imagine," "Power To The People," "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)," "Nobody Told Me," "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," along with rarer album cuts such as "New York City," "Working Class Hero," "Attica State," "Here We Go Again," "How Do You Sleep?," and "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama."

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