Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio is in final talks to play religious cult leader Jim Jones in MGM’s upcoming feature, written by Scott Rosenberg, Variety has confirmed. Jones was behind the November 1978 mass suicide at Jonestown that took over 900 lives.
MGM secured a deal for the feature project in a preemptive situation, with DiCaprio also producing the project alongside Jennifer Davisson for their Appian Way production company. Rosenberg (“Venom,” “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and “Jumanji: The Next Level”) is also on board as an executive producer. Rosenberg is represented by WME.
Founded in 2001 by DiCaprio, Appian Way Productions produced Alejandro Iñárritu’s three-time Academy Award-winner “The Revenant,” Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-nominated “The Wolf of Wall Street,” the Academy Award-nominated “The Aviator” and “Shutter Island” (all starring DiCaprio), as well as the Peabody Award-winning documentary “Sea of Shadows,” Scott Cooper’s “Out of the Furnace” and George Clooney’s “The Ides of March,” among others. Appian currently is in production on Apple’s “Shining Girls,” starring Elizabeth Moss. Davisson serves as president of production.
Deadline was first to report news of DiCaprio’s involvement in the project.
More to come…