Yoko Ono To Produce New Film About Relationship With John Lennon

Yoko Ono will be producing a new film about her relationship with John Lennon, according to Deadline. The new John and Yoko film does not yet have a name, but screenwriter Anthony McCarten, who penned the Stephen Hawking biopic, The Theory of Everything, has been chosen to write the script. Co-producing the movie with Ono will be Michael De Luca, whose producing credits include The Social Network and Moneyball.

“The story will focus on ripe and relevant themes of love, courage and activism in the U.S. – with the intention of inspiring today’s youth to stand up for and have a clear vision for the world they want,” De Luca said.

Screenwriter Anthony McCarten was previously nominated for an Oscar for his script for The Theory of Everything, which largely dealt with the relationship between Stephen Hawking and his ex-wife, Jane. McCarten also penned the script for the upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, so a John and Yoko biopic seems particularly in line with his talents.

The political climate worldwide has led to a renewed interest in activism, so a film focusing not only on the romantic and artistic aspects of John Lennon’s and Yoko Ono’s lives together but also on their political activism has the potential to receive a lot of interest and critical acclaim if done well.

John Lennon met Yoko Ono in the late 1960s after he had already become one of the biggest rock and roll stars in the world with the Beatles. Ono was a fairly unknown but promising artist at the time, and their relationship became the center-point of Lennon’s post-Beatles career, the two often collaborating together on music and art. Opposition to the war in Vietnam was something the couple felt particularly strong about. In 1969, just five days after they were married, the couple staged a “bed-in” in New York to protest the war. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, John and Yoko invited members of the press to their hotel suite at the Hilton Amsterdam to discuss peace for 12 hours each day.

“We sent out a card: ‘Come to John and Yoko’s honeymoon: a bed-in, Amsterdam Hotel,'” John Lennon said.

“You should have seen the faces on the reporters and the cameramen fighting their way through the door! Because whatever it is, is in people’s minds – their minds were full of what they thought was going to happen. They fought their way in, and their faces dropped. There were we like two angels in bed, with flowers all around us, and peace and love on our heads. We were fully clothed; the bed was just an accessory. We were wearing pyjamas, but they don’t look much different from day clothes — nothing showing.”

John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married for 11 years before he was tragically gunned down in front of his New York apartment by a crazed gunman named Mark David Chapman. The news shook the world, not only because Lennon was a beloved musician whose songs with the Beatles and as a solo artist were adored by millions, but because to many people, he represented the virtues of peace, love, and compassion that he stood for, especially later in his life. John Lennon and Yoko Ono inspired many people to become activists themselves, so it will be interesting to see how this film handles the political aspect of their relationship, which it can be argued is central to understanding what they were all about. With Yoko Ono involved, the film is sure to be a respectful and fascinating portrait of a famous, politically conscious couple and the tumultuous world in which they lived.

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