Murderous cult leader
Leonardo DiCaprio wants to play the cult leader Jim Jones
Leonardo DiCaprio, US actor, attends a press conference. (Archive image) Photo: Rodrigo Reyes Marin / ZUMA Wire / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
At the end of the year, actor Leonardo DiCaprio can be seen in the Netflix comedy “Don’t look up”. But there are already new plans for a film – this time on a serious topic.
Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio (46, “The Revenant”) could soon be in front of the camera in the role of a murderous cult leader.
The actor is negotiating for the lead role in the planned drama about the US preacher Jim Jones, who in 1978 caused one of the largest mass suicides in the jungle of the South American country of Guyana, as the industry papers “Variety” and “Hollywood Reporter” reported on Monday.
Sect members forcibly driven to death
More than 900 members of his Peoples Temple sect died after drinking a juice made with potassium cyanide. According to reports from the few survivors, several members were forcibly driven to their deaths. The 47-year-old preacher had attracted over 1,000 followers from the United States with promises of a peaceful, just commune. A US Congressman who tried to investigate reports of abuse and deprivation of liberty on the spot was shot dead by Jones supporters along with four companions. Shortly afterwards the massacre broke out.
DiCaprio last shot the thriller “Killers of the Flower Moon” under the direction of Martin Scorsese, a true series of murders of indigenous people in the US state of Oklahoma in 1919 after large oil reserves were discovered on their land. At the end of the year, DiCaprio can be seen in the Netflix comedy “Don’t look up” alongside Jennifer Lawrence.