Bill Hader developing Jonestown series at HBO, may star as cult leader Jim Jones

Bill Hader co-writing and potentially starring in a Jonestown drama series for HBO, exploring the infamous cult leader Jim Jones.

Bill Hader is co-writing a Jonestown-centered drama series in development at HBO, with plans to also direct and potentially take on the lead role of cult leader Jim Jones. There’s no official greenlight or production timeline yet, but if the project moves ahead, HBO could be looking at one of its most intense true crime adaptations yet.

The project, which the Barry star is developing alongside Damages co-creator Daniel Zelman, will chronicle the rise and tragic fall of the Peoples Temple and the infamous 1978 mass murder-suicide that claimed over 900 lives in Jonestown, Guyana. Hader and Zelman are co-writing, executive producing, and will act as co-showrunners.

Should the series move forward, it would mark a major tonal shift for Hader, known for balancing comedy and psychological tension in Barry, which earned him two Emmys for lead actor. This new project leans fully into historical drama, focusing on the manipulation, paranoia, and eventual catastrophe that surrounded Jones and his followers.

The announcement comes amid renewed pop culture interest in the Jonestown story, recently referenced in an episode of Apple TV’s The Studio.

The Jonestown tragedy has been revisited numerous times in film and television, most notably in the 1980 CBS miniseries Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones and through various documentaries and books. HBO previously attempted to launch a Jonestown series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan in 2016, but it never advanced.