Bill Hader is currently developing a TV series based on the Jonestown massacre for HBO, we’ve learned. More on the project below.
The Jonestown massacre remains a particularly dark spot in history. Cult leader Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple in 1955 in Indiana, before relocating to Guyana in 1974.
Over 900 of Jones’ followers died in a murder-suicide on Jones’ orders in 1978. The Jonestown massacre was the origin of the phrase “Drink the Kool-Aid” after Jones’ victims drank poisoned Flavor Aid, mistakenly thought to be Kool-Aid.
News has now reached the Film Stories news desk that Bill Hader is currently developing a new TV version of the Jonestown events for HBO. Hader is working with Damages’ co-creator Daniel Zelman in developing the project, and if it moves forward, Hader and Zelman would become co-showrunners as well as co-writers and producers. Hader would also sit in the director’s chair.
Variety reports that Hader might even go on to star. Whether Hader is eyeing the role of Jones himself is unclear at this point. Hader previously collaborated with HBO on Barry, his hitman comedy which he also created, directed and starred in. The Jonestown show would see Hader almost certainly work with more dramatic, serious material, but if Barry is anything to go by, Hader’s new TV show could be something quite special.
The events at Jonestown have been covered in multiple documentaries and was also the subject of the ninth episode of American Horror Story: Cult. Ti West’s The Sacrament, while not a direct adaptation or a retelling of Jonestown, was heavily influenced by Jim Jones.
We’ll keep you posted on whether Hader’s HBO project moves forward.
