It turns out Bill Hader has been drinking the Kool-Aid.
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.
News of the series comes not long after a Jonestown movie served as a central plot point in an episode of the critically-acclaimed Apple TV+ series “The Studio.” Neither Martin Scorsese nor Steve Buscemi are involved in the HBO project at this time.
Jones founded the Peoples Temple in the 1950s and established what became known as Jonestown in the 1970s in the nation of Guyana. Jonestown came to international attention when over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, including Jones, died in a mass murder-suicide at Jones’ direction in 1978.
Jones and Jonestown have been the subject of intense media attention ever since. Multiple books and documentaries have been released, while Powers Boothe starred as Jones in the two-part CBS miniseries “Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones” in 1980. “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan was also developing a Jonestown series at HBO beginning in 2016, but the project did not move forward.
Hader previously co-created and starred in the HBO series “Barry” for four seasons, with the show wrapping up its run in 2023. He received 16 total Emmy nominations for his work on the show, including sharing in its four nods for best comedy series. Hader himself won two Emmys for best actor in a comedy for the show in 2018 and 2019. Hader is also known for his time as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” as well as for shows like “South Park” and for films like “IT: Chapter Two,” “The Skeleton Twins,” “Inside Out,” and “Trainwreck.”
He is repped by UTA and Felker Toczek.
Zelman previously co-created the hit FX series “Damages” with Glenn and Todd A. Kessler. The show ran for five seasons and earned 20 Emmy nominations with four wins. Zelman and the Kesslers later collaborated on the Netflix series “Bloodline,” which ran for three seasons and won Ben Mendelsohn the Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama in 2016. Zelman was also an executive producer on the “Game of Thrones” prequel pilot about The Long Night at HBO and served as a consulting producer on “Succession.”
He is repped by Goodman Genow.
From Variety US