Leonardo DiCaprio to Produce and Star as Jim Jones in MGM film

Deadline has exclusively reported today that Leonardo DiCaprio is in final talks to produce and star in the film Jim Jones as the titular cult leader behind the mass-Jonestown suicide of November 20, 1978. The script has been written by Venom co-writer Scott Rosenberg in a seven-figure deal. Rosenberg will also act as executive producer to the movie, with DiCaprio’s Appian Way to be co-distributors with MGM.

It’s unclear, however, when production on the movie would start, or when it’s going to be released and who is directing it, but a film about Jones will be very polarizing. The leader claimed he was God and created a cult in which he convinced over nine hundred people to kill themselves at his Temple in Guyana, including 304 children, by drinking cyanide-laced Flavor Aid.

DiCaprio does not shy away from playing truly despicable characters, such as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street, Calvin Candie in Django Unchained, and Howard Hughes in The Aviator to name a few, but could this role be his most controversial one yet? We’ll definitely see once the movie comes out. In the meantime, you can check out DiCaprio next in Adam McKay‘s Don’t Look Up, set to release on Netflix next month on December 10th.

Source: Deadline