In one of the first major pieces of new development outside of the Breaking Bad universe, Vince Gilligan has signed on to write and executive produce Raven, a limited series for HBO abut Jim Jones, the infamous leader of the Peoples Temple cult who led his followers to a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978. On Raven, Breaking Bad creator/executive producer Gilligan is reuniting with the AMC series’ executive producer/director Michelle MacLaren who is set to direct the limited series. The two are executive producing the project with actress Octavia Spencer, who had optioned the source material — the non-fiction book Raven: The Untold Story of Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman, a journalist who survived the events in Guyana — more than four years ago. Reilly Smith, who had secured the rights of the book with Spencer, will co-produce. Sony Pictures TV, where Gilligan and his High Bridge Prods. are based, is the studio. There are no plans for Spencer to act.
Raven is described as the definitive history of Peoples Temple from its idealistic beginnings to its terrible end in Jonestown. The adaptation will focus on Jim Jones, but also on his followers, who, by and large, were ordinary people of good will. It tells the mysterious story of how so many of them came to give up their lives for this man.
Raven is described as the definitive history of Peoples Temple from its idealistic beginnings to its terrible end in Jonestown. The adaptation will focus on Jim Jones, but also on his followers, who, by and large, were ordinary people of good will. It tells the mysterious story of how so many of them came to give up their lives for this man.
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The premium cabler is teaming with Breaking Bad duo Vince Gilligan and Michelle MacLaren, as well as exec producer/actress Octavia Spencer for a drama based on Jim Jones and the deadly 1978 Peoples Temple Agricultural Project known as Jonestown.
The limited series, which is called Raven and in development, is based on the nonfiction book Raven: The Untold Story of Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman, a journalist who survived the events in Gyuana. (The Associated Press called it the "seminal book on the story of Jonestown.")
Raven tells the definitive history of Peoples Temple, from its idealistic beginnings to its terrible end in Jonestown. The adaptation will focus on Jim Jones, but also on his followers, who, by and large, were ordinary people of good will. It tells the mysterious story of how so many of them came to give up their lives for this man.
Spencer, meanwhile, is not currently slated for an on-screen role in Raven. She will next be seen in Fox feature Hidden Figures.
Peoples temple was an American religious organization led by Jones in northwestern Guyana. On Nov. 18, 1978, a total of 909 Americans died in Jonestown — all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning — in what Jones called a "revolutionary suicide." It ranked as the largest mass suicide/mass murder in modern history and until 9/11, was the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act.
Raven becomes the latest true-crime-inspired project in the works as broadcast, cable and streaming outlets alike look to capitalize on the success of series like FX's People v. O.J. Simpson, HBO's The Jinx and Netflix's Making a Murderer. The announcement comes days after The Weinstein Co. announced that it is producing Waco, a limited series about the Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresch starring Taylor Kitsch.
The limited series, which is called Raven and in development, is based on the nonfiction book Raven: The Untold Story of Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman, a journalist who survived the events in Gyuana. (The Associated Press called it the "seminal book on the story of Jonestown.")
Raven tells the definitive history of Peoples Temple, from its idealistic beginnings to its terrible end in Jonestown. The adaptation will focus on Jim Jones, but also on his followers, who, by and large, were ordinary people of good will. It tells the mysterious story of how so many of them came to give up their lives for this man.
Spencer, meanwhile, is not currently slated for an on-screen role in Raven. She will next be seen in Fox feature Hidden Figures.
Peoples temple was an American religious organization led by Jones in northwestern Guyana. On Nov. 18, 1978, a total of 909 Americans died in Jonestown — all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning — in what Jones called a "revolutionary suicide." It ranked as the largest mass suicide/mass murder in modern history and until 9/11, was the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act.
Raven becomes the latest true-crime-inspired project in the works as broadcast, cable and streaming outlets alike look to capitalize on the success of series like FX's People v. O.J. Simpson, HBO's The Jinx and Netflix's Making a Murderer. The announcement comes days after The Weinstein Co. announced that it is producing Waco, a limited series about the Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresch starring Taylor Kitsch.
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