The plot is largely based on the philosophical writings of
William S. Burroughs, who came to believe that the number 23 held mystical significance after encountering it during significant moments in his life. Burroughs eventually wrote the screenplay "The Last Words of Dutch Schultz" around this concept, in which he used the deathbed ramblings of mobster Dutch Schultz as a springboard for telling a story based around Schultz's life - which, in Burrough's vision, revolved around recurrences of the number 23.
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