Draft:The Leader (upcoming film)

The Leader is an upcoming historical crime biopic written and directed by Michael Gallagher and starring Vera Farmiga and Tim Blake Nelson as the leaders of the suicide-cult who became known as Heaven's Gate who in 1997 perpetrated the biggest ever mass suicide on US soil. The film is produced by Cinemand and Balcony 9 Productions.

Synopsis
Nettles (Farmiga) and Applewhite (Blake Nelson) develop a religion that would become known as Heavens Gate, a UFO cult that told followers they could transform into immortal extraterrestrials and ascend to heaven, and led to the mass suicide of 39 people in identical clothing coinciding with the Hale-Bopp comet passing Earth in 1997.

Cast

 * Vera Farmiga as Bonnie Nettles, aka “Ti”
 * Tim Blake Nelson as Marshall Applewhite, aka “Do”
 * Simon Rex
 * Michael C Hall
 * Grace Caroline Currey

Production
On February 15, 2023 it was announced that Blake Nelson and Farmiga were cast as the death cult leaders Ti and Do. The project is produced by Jana Winternitz, Michael Wormser and Gallagher for Cinemand, as well as Joel David Moore and Max Osswald from Balcony 9 Productions. Executive producers are Rishi Bajaj and Daniel Taborga from Balcony 9 Productions with Cassian Elwes, Evan Silverberg from Entertainment 360. On February 18, 2023 Simon Rex was added to the cast. In October 2023, Michael C Hall and Grace Caroline Currey joined the cast.