Bill Hader to co-write and hopefully star in Jonestown TV show

Who better than comedian Bill Hader to star as Jim Jones in a TV show about the cult leader and his doomed "agricultural project" in Guyana?

Variety has learned exclusively that Hader and Daniel Zelman are currently developing an HBO series centered on Jim Jones and the infamous events at the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, a.k.a. Jonestown.

According to an individual with knowledge of the project, Hader is being eyed to potentially star in the show as well. Hader is co-writing with Zelman, with both serving as co-showrunners and executive producers. Hader would also direct should the project move forward.

A few years ago, you may recall, Leonardo DiCaprio was interested in the role. The government of Guyana recently began letting tourists visit the Jonestown site, where Jones and his minions orchestrated one of the worst cult mass-murders in history—though after fifty years it's almost completely reclaimed by the jungle. The death tape is as sobering as it always was.

Previously: Go Outside