Leonardo DiCaprio Will Play Religious Cult Leader Jim Jones In New Movie From Kangaroo Jack Writer

Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio will play the religious cult leader Jim Jones in a new movie that traces the story of the Jonestown suicide event in November 1978.

More than 900 people died in the mass suicide in a remote commune in Guyana. "By the 1970s he openly rejected traditional Christianity and claimed that he was God. He constructed Jonestown in Guyana in 1974 and spurred a following to live with him there as he touted a socialist paradise free from U.S. government oppression," reads a line from Deadline's report.

Politician Leo Ryan traveled to Guyana to investigate Jones' Peoples Temple, and he was shot and killed. The mass suicide at Jonestown took place shortly thereafter, with members drinking a cyanide cocktail.

James Bond studio MGM is producing the Jim Jones movie from a script written by Scott Rosenberg (Venom, Kangaroo Jack). The deal for the movie is described by Deadline as being in the range of seven figures.

DiCaprio has a number of upcoming projects lined up. Outside of the Jim Jones film, DiCaprio will be seen next in Netflix's Don't Look Up in December. He's also set to appear in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, while he's apparently also going to play the lead role in the English version of Another Round. With his producing and acting roles combined, DiCaprio's movies have grossed more than $7.9 billion at the box office.