Leonardo DiCaprio in final talks to star as infamous preacher Jim Jones

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio is currently in final talks to star in the upcoming film Jim Jones, following the life of the eponymous cult leader.

Film studio MGM secured the rights for the script written by Scott Rosenberg - known for cult classics such as Con Air and High Fidelity, as well as the more recent commercial hit Venom. Rosenberg will also serve as an executive producer in the upcoming project.

The film will see Leonardo DiCaprio starring as the infamous title character Jim Jones. The American preacher led the Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ. Initially a Christian organisation with socialist and communist leanings, it eventually unravelled into a fanatical cult.

The church is most famous for the horrid event which took place on November 18, 1978 - commonly known as the Jonestown Massacre. Claiming that the United States Government was too oppressive, Jones convinced many of his followers to follow him to a new commune being built in the middle of the jungles of Guyana.

While Jones claimed the newly built town to be a socialist paradise, the media got wind of believable rumours of human rights abuses in the settlement. After a visit by Congressman Leo Ryan went terribly wrong - ending up with the American politician and four others dead - Jones convinced his followers to commit mass suicide. 909 residents, 304 of them children, drank punch spiked with cyanide.

Before taking on the infamous preacher, Leonardo DiCaprio is set to co-star alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the end-of-the-world comedy Don’t Look Up, which will release both in Cinemas and on Netflix on Christmas Eve.