Michael C. Hall Joins Vera Farmiga and Tim Blake Nelson in The Heaven's Gate Cult Film THE LEADER
Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Grace Caroline Currey (Fall) signed on to star in the upcoming true-crime film The Leader. The film is based on the 1997 mass suicide of the religious cult known as Heaven’s Gate. The actors join the previously cast Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring), Tim Blake Nelson (Captain America: Brave New World) and Simon Rex (Red Rocket).
The movie is being directed by Michael Gallagher (The Thinning) from a script that he wrote. The Leader will tell the tragic true story of “the 39 members of the UFO cult known as Heaven’s Gate who committed the largest mass suicide ever on American soil. The film tracks Nettles (Farmiga) and Applewhite (Nelson) as they develop the religion, build a devout following and face unforeseen conflict when the spaceship fails to arrive.”
Hall will take on the role of a key devotee: “a wealthy addict who attempts to win favor with Applewhite by financially supporting the cult with his trust fund.” Currey will play an “Oregon-based boutique owner who drops out of society in the late 1970s to join the cult — leaving her family and fiancé behind.”
Currey said in a statement: “I was moved by Michael Gallagher’s sincerity and care on handling such a heavy subject matter. I couldn’t shake the story after reading his script. I hope to bring as much heart and humanity as I possibly can to my piece in this project.”
Producer Nat McCormick added: “Michael C. Hall and Grace Caroline Currey are cementing the commerciality of an already very anticipated and strong feature.”
The Heaven's Gate cult was a notorious religious group who gained worldwide attention in 1997 when it was discovered that 39 of its members had committed mass suicide in a mansion located in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The group was led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, and the religion combined elements of Christianity, science fiction, and New Age spirituality. They claimed that a spaceship, hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet, was coming to Earth to transport them to a higher level of existence, and that they needed to shed their physical bodies to be ready for this journey.
In March 1997, the members of Heaven's Gate took their own lives in a carefully orchestrated event, with each person ingesting a lethal dose of barbiturates and applesauce, and then tying a plastic bag around their head to induce asphyxiation. They wore matching black and white Nike sneakers and tracksuits, and their bodies were discovered in neat rows within a mansion.
The mass suicide was devastating, and I remember seeing footage of it on the news when I was growing up. It was pretty shocking.
Source: Deadline