Leonardo DiCaprio in talks to play Jim Jones. Image credit: BangShowbiz
Leonardo DiCaprio, the 46-year-old actor, is being lined up to play the religious cult leader of the Peoples Temple, who was behind the 1978 mass suicide over more than 900 people at his Jonestown settlement.
The upcoming MGM movie has been written by ‘Venom’ scribe Scott Rosenberg, and Deadline has reported that DiCaprio is set to take on the lead role.
Jones found the Peoples Temple – which he promoted as a fully integrated congregation promoting Christian Socialism – in 1955, and by the 1970s he had rejected traditional Christianity and claimed to be God.
He build his commune in Guyana in 1974, and four years later told his followers to drink Flavor Aid which was laced with cyanide.
MGM have secured a deal for the project, while Leonardo DiCaprio is set to produce alongside Jennifer Davisson via their Appian Way company, with Rosenberg also set to executive produce.
The film won’t be the first time the Academy Award-winning star has played an historical figure.
He took on the role of con man Frank Abagnale in ‘Catch Me If You Can’ and Howard Hughes in ‘The Aviator’, before playing frontiersman Hugh Glass in ‘The Revenant’, which earned him the best actor Oscar in 2016.
He’s also got two other movies in the pipeline, as he’ll be starring in upcoming Netflix comedy ‘Don’t Look Up’, in which he will be part of a star-studded cast with the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Street and Ariana Grande.
Leonardo DiCaprio also set for Apple Original Films project ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, which comes from director Martin Scorsese and also stars Jesse Piemons and Robert De Niro.