Golden Globe nominee Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50) and Chloë Grace Moretz (Carrie) have signed on for the leading roles in the upcoming psychological thriller titled White Night, based on Deborah Layton’s memoir Seductive Poison about her experience as a high-ranking member of the infamous cult the Peoples Temple and a Jonestown survivor.
“Debbie Layton’s Seductive Poison was the first book Anne Carey and I optioned at Archer Gray, and it formed the foundation of our mission to help give voice to the stories it was time to hear,” Archer Gray’s CEO, Amy Nauiokas said in a statement (via Variety). “Debbie’s incredible journey with the People’s Temple deserves an audience across generations. It should serve as [a] warning about the power a certain type of charismatic leader can have and the very real lessons to be learned from our history.”
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Gordon-Levitt will be portraying cult leader Jim Jones, who was the person behind the Jonestown Massacre which resulted in the deaths of 918 people. Meanwhile, Moretz is playing Layton, a member of Jones’ inner circle.
Pick up a copy of the memoir here!
White Night will recount Layton’s first account of the incidents from the moment she rises through the ranks of the Peoples Temple, to eventually becoming a part of Jones’ inner circle. She would later on betray Jones and fight to expose the truth about him to the world before it’s too late.
In 1955, Jones founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, where he promoted Christian Socialism. By the 1970s, he became more infamous after he openly rejected traditional Christianity and even proclaimed himself as a god. He then went on to build a small community in Guyana called Jonestown, where he convinced his followers to live there with him, enticing them of a socialist paradise that would be free from the U.S. government’s oppression.
However, by the late 1970s, reports had circulated about human rights abuses within Jonestown, which prompted the American government to send a delegation led by U.S. Representative Leo Ryan to investigate these claims. Unfortunately, they were killed by Jones’ followers, who were instructed by Jones to shotgun them down. After that, another tragedy took place as Jones ordered a mass murder-suicide on November 18, 1978, which led to the deaths of 918 commune members, 304 of them were children, through cyanide poisoning.
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White Night will be directed by Anne Sewitsky from a screenplay written by William Wheeler. It will be produced by Archer Gray and FilmNation Entertainment, who will also finance the project.
This isn’t the only Jim Jones film that is currently being developed as MGM will also be adapting the true crime story with Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star as the cult leader and produced through his Appian Way banner.
