Deadline is exclusively reporting that MGM have secured a deal to develop a film project on Jim Jones, the 1970s religious cult leader, with Leonardo DiCaprio in final negotiations with the studio to produce and star in the film.

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Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis in 1955, hailing it as a fully integrated congregation promoting Christian Socialism. In the 1970s, Jones openly rejected traditional Christianity and claimed that he was God, leading to the construction Jonestown in Guyana in 1974 where he called for his following to live with him there as he offered a socialist paradise free from U.S. government oppression. Amid rumours of human rights abuses, the government sent a delegation to Jonestown in November 1978, who were gunned down by Jones’ followers. After the shooting, Jones orchestrated a mass murder-suicide of his followers on the 18th November 1978 taking over nine-hundred lives, a third of whom were children, by drinking Flavor Aid laced with poison.

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MGM secured the screenplay written by Scott Rosenberg, whose previous screenwriting credits include the Jumanji sequels and Venom, in what Deadline believes to be a seven-figure deal. DiCaprio will be producing alongside Jennifer Davisson under their company banner Appian Way.