Leonardo DiCaprio has played a number of real-life figures throughout his Oscar-winning career, from politicians (J. Edgar Hoover in J. Edgar) and criminal forgers (Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me if You Can) to legendary moguls (Howard Hughes in The Aviator) and corrupt stockbrokers (Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street), to name but a few.
The 46-year-old is poised to add one more as he’s in final talks to step into the shoes of controversial cult leader Jim Jones. MGM bought rights to the film, which was penned by Scott Rosenberg, a writer on the first “Venom” film from 2018, as well as “Jumanji: Next Level.” What is fascinating is the subject is of extreme controversy and the paranoia that surrounds it.
It was a terrible shock and a wake-up call for the civilized society when the bone-chilling Jonestown mass suicide claimed 909 lives. The catch is, these people were convinced of an unidentified inevitable danger and their revered leader found the ideal solution to mass suicide.
Jones founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis in 1955 and hailed it as a fully integrated congregation promoting Christian Socialism. By the 1970s he openly rejected traditional Christianity and claimed that he was God. He constructed Jonestown in Guyana in 1974 and spurred a following to live with him there as he touted a socialist paradise free from U.S. government oppression.
Amid rumors of human rights abuses, the American government sent a delegation led by U.S. Representative Leo Ryan in November 1978. Ryan, along with four others, would eventually be gunned down by Jones’ followers. Following the shooting, Jones orchestrated a mass murder-suicide of his followers, which took the lives of 918 commune members, 304 of them children, in an act that entailed drinking Flavor Aid laced with cyanide.
Reports suggest that a seven-figure deal has been signed and Rosenberg will also be the executive producer of Jim Jones. DiCaprio will produce “Jim Jones” for his Appian Way company alongside the president of production Jennifer Davisson.