New John Lennon documentary to focus on his final interview

Another John Lennon documentary is in the works, this time from Ocean’s Eleven director Steven Soderbergh.

According to Variety, Soderbergh talked about the film at the inaugural Doha Film Festival, explaining that the still-untitled project will focus on Lennon’s final interview, which he and wife Yoko Ono sat for just hours before he was shot and killed on Dec. 8, 1980.

“I’m excited about it,” Soderbergh said. “I’m not looking to re-invent the form. I’m just hoping to create a film that gets as many people as possible to hear what John and Yoko had to say on that afternoon before he was killed.”

The interview took place at John and Yoko’s New York apartment The Dakota and was tied to the release of their album Double Fantasy. Lennon was shot in front of his apartment later that evening as he was returning from a recording session at the Record Plant.

Soderbergh said he found the interview somewhat surprising.

“They were both so free in their discussions. As someone who has been interviewed many times I was surprised at how open and excited they were to talk,” he said. “You would think they had never been interviewed before.”

“So I want that to come across to the audience. Everything that they said 45 years ago is not just relevant today. It’s even more relevant in terms or relationships, politics, how we treat each other,” he continued. “How systems work on the individual and above all on the importance of love in our daily life and our world.”