Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star as cult leader Jim Jones in a new biopic about the infamous Jonestown massacre leader. Jones was an eccentric personality in the '70s who founded the Peoples Temple, a fringe Christian religious organization that he used for his own political activism, eventually forcing over 900 people to commit mass suicide at his Jonestown settlement in Guyana on November 18, 1978. The Jonestown massacre has been the subject of multiple films, TV, and documentary projects, as well as a catalog of books and music, which have sealed the incident into a cultural fascination.
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DiCaprio recently starred in Quentin Tarantino's ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ and is slated to debut ‘Don't Look Up’, a Netflix comedy from director Adam McKay next month. The Oscar-winning actor recently wrapped the Martin-Scorsese- directed Killers of the Flower Moon and is set to star in an adaptation of Stephen Talty's ‘The Black Hand’ next. DiCaprio is rumored to be starring in Scorsese's Roosevelt biopic sometime in the next year as well.
According to reports DiCaprio is in final negotiations to star in and produce a biopic about Jones, which is based on a script by Scott Rosenberg (Venom). DiCaprio is expected to play Jones, which would be well within the actor's wheelhouse of larger-than-life biographical characters. There is no word yet on who may direct the feature, nor are there any details in terms of how the story would be approached, but more information will likely shape up as more talent is lined up. -Deadline
