Bill Hader is no stranger to venturing into the darker side of television; in fact, he loves it. He’s tackled everything from comedy and drama to horror, with great success, but what we haven’t seen him tackle is what he names as one of his favorite genres: true crime. That’s about to change, though, according to Variety, who first reported that HBO is set to develop Hader’s new series centered on the story of Reverend Jim Jones, his people, and the horrific events that took place at the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, a.k.a. the Jonestown Massacre.
Hader will co-write and serve as co-showrunner on the adaptation with screenwriter Daniel Zelman, who is best known for his work on Damages and Bloodline. The award-winning actor will also direct and potentially even star in the show if the project moves forward.
Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple in the 1950s and, with promises of a utopian community, lured his followers to Guyana in the 1970s, where he established what became known as Jonestown; however, his leadership grew increasingly paranoid and controlling. The site became internationally famous in November 1978 after more than 900 members died in a mass suicide after drinking cyanide-laced Kool-Aid, with some being forced to ingest the poison, while others were injected with it. Everything was orchestrated by Jones and followed the murder of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan by Temple members at Port Kaituma. Four other members also committed murder-suicide in Georgetown, Guyana, on Jones’s orders. The cult leader himself died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Jonestown cult massacre of 1978 has long been a subject of fascination for both Hollywood and the masses, as over the years, we’ve seen numerous depictions of the tragedy, including the 2007 History Channel documentary Jonestown: Paradise Lost, the 2006 documentary film Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, the 1979 film Guyana: Cult of the Damned, based on the Jonestown tragedy, and Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones, a 1980 CBS miniseries based on the life of Jones and the Peoples Temple, not to mention all the books.
In 2016, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan was developing a Jonestown limited series for HBO, but the project eventually fell through and did not move forward. The subject of the massacre remains relevant even today in Hollywood, as was evidenced recently in the premiere episode of The Studio on Apple TV+, which totally called another oncoming depiction in its narrative centered on a fictional Jonestown project.
Bloody Disgusting’s “Murder Made Fiction” podcast dove into the Jonestown Massacre in October 2024 to explain its continued appeal:
“It’s a fascinating case that prompts us to consider how people can begin a cause with altruistic motives and the intent to do good, but eventually, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Jones is a prime example of this. … It’s a horrifying story, but one with a long legacy about how cults are perceived and dealt with, particularly by law enforcement."
Will Hader examine these themes? Will his depiction explore public perception, reception, and rejection of the cult and its legacy? How will Jones and law enforcement be depicted: with or without empathy? Also, will Hader bring his signature sense of humor into this dark narrative in some way? Given the subject matter, it’s not likely, unless it’s in the form of some light-hearted levity in Jones’s earlier days with the Temple before Jonestown was established. While no further details about Hader’s impending adaptation are available at this time, rest assured, we here at Show Snob will keep you updated.
Hader most recently wrapped a four-season run on HBO’s Barry, which he co-created and starred in. He also received 16 Emmy nominations for his work on the show, including four shared nominations in the Best Comedy Series category. The actor won 2 Emmys for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2018 and 2019. With his documented fascination with and love of true crime, fans can’t help but wonder how his true crime adaptation will turn out but we expect it to be intense, emotional, and thought-provoking.