“Jim Jones”
Leonardo DiCaprio wants to play sect leader
Leonardo DiCaprio has another new role on the hook.
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Leonardo DiCaprio has already embodied some real people on screen. For his next project he becomes sect leader Jim Jones.
He played fraudster Frank Abagnale Jr. (73) in “Catch Me If You Can” (2002), aviation pioneer Howard Hughes (1905-1976) in “Aviator” (2004), the former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover (1895- 1972) in “J. Edgar” (2011) and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013) Jordan Belfort (59). Now Leonardo DiCaprio (46, “Titanic”) dares to embody a real person again. In “Jim Jones” he becomes the sect leader of the same name.
As reported by “Deadline”, the Oscar winner is currently in the final negotiations for his role in the film that is to be produced under the MGM banner. Together with Jennifer Davisson, DiCaprio also wants to take on the role of producer for his company Appian Way Productions. The script for “Jim Jones” was written by Scott Rosenberg (58, “Con Air”), who is also on board as executive producer.
In 1978, Jim Jones ordered the suicide of 918 followers
The American James Warren Jones (1931-1978), known as Jim, founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis (Indiana) in 1955. In the 1970s he described himself as a deity and in the middle of the decade had the Jonestown settlement built in the jungle in Guyana – a kind of socialist paradise for him. In 1978, he ordered his followers to commit mass suicide, killing 918 people, including 304 children.
Before Leonardo DiCaprio portrays the cult leader, he can be seen from December 9th in the highly anticipated Netflix comedy “Don’t Look Up”. In the work by director Adam McKay (53), Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence (31), comedy virtuoso Jonah Hill (37), teen crush Timothée Chalamet (25) and Hollywood icon Meryl Streep (72) play at his side.