A&E might have a cult hit on its hands. According to a report in Variety, Jim Jones, the infamous Hoosier who led more than 900 of his followers to a mass suicide in 1978, will be the focus in Season 1 of a yet-to-be-named anthology crime drama (think Fargo) for the cable channel. The project, backed by actor Jake Gyllenhaal, is in the development stage.
Gyllenhaal told Variety: “Jim Jones is a complex character—one who has found his way into the collective unconscious. We want to focus on the undeniable magnetism of zealots and the danger of that kind of charisma. A notion not only pertinent to cult leaders but to the geo-political climate of today.”
Jim Jones appears in IM’s January 2016 Bicentennial issue. For more coverage of Indiana’s Bicentennial, go to IndianapolisMonthly.com/bicentennial.
