Leonardo DiCaprio and Jim Jones. Image via Twitter @lahlahbean
Leonardo DiCaprio set to star as religious cult leader Jim Jones
Academy award-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly in talks to play the title role in ‘Jim Jones’.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jim Jones. Image via Twitter @lahlahbean
Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly in final talks to star in Jim Jones.
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 of more than 900 people at his Jonestown settlement.
ALSO READ: Vin Diesel appeals to ‘little brother Dwayne’ to make ‘Fast 10’ return
LEONARDO DICAPRIO AS JIM JONES
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.
LEONARDO DICAPRIO PLAYING ANOTHER HISTORICAL FIGURE
MGM have secured a deal for the project, while 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 a 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.
Movies in the pipeline
He’s also got two other movies in the pipeline, as he’ll be starring in the 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.
He’s also set for Apple Original Films project Killers of the Flower Moon, which comes from director Martin Scorsese and also stars Jesse Plemons and Robert De Niro.
ALSO READ: ‘Into a new sphere’: Idris Elba thinks ‘Luther’ can reach James Bond levels
