Leonardo DiCaprio in final talks to play Jim Jones role in Jonestown film

Leonardo DiCaprio is in final talks to star as Jim Jones in the upcoming biopic about the controversial figure who orchestrated the Jonestown mass suicide, reports Deadline.

It has been rumored for a while now that DiCaprio would play the cult leader in a film, although previously he was just in “talks” to take on the role. Now it looks like the Oscar winner is just finalizing the details before officially signing on.

The movie, which will be a biopic about Jones, will be distributed by MGM. For those unfamiliar, Jim Jones is the man who founded the Peoples Temple in 1955. He later orchestrated the horrific Jonestown mass suicide that claimed the lives of more than 900 people in 1978.

Per the publication, MGM has secured a deal for the project, which is titled Jim Jones (at least for now). The Revenant actor will also produce the movie for his Appian Way production company alongside Jennifer Davisson.

DiCaprio will next appear in the upcoming Adam McKay film Don’t Look Up, which he stars in alongside Jennifer Lawrence. The Netflix film is slated for a December 10 release.

Leonardo DiCaprio previously produced a Jonestown docuseries

This biopic is actually not the 46-year-old actor’s first Jonestown-related project. He was one of the producers on the Sundance TV docuseries Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle, a four-part look at the horrors of Jonestown and its aftermath.

DiCaprio is also set to star in and executive produce The Devil in the White City, an upcoming Hulu series based on the infamous serial killer H.H. Holmes and the non-fiction book of the same name by Erik Larsson. DiCaprio and Martin Scorcese have been developing this project for some time now. He also teamed up with Scorcese for the Killers of the Flower Moon film, yet another true crime story based on the Osage murders. It appears DiCaprio has some vested interest in these types of stories.