We had previously reported that Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga will be leading the upcoming film about the Heaven's Gate cult, The Leader. The latest update is that Simon Rex will also be joining the film's cast. Heaven's Gate was a cult with members who committed mass suicide believing that the passing of Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997 was their ticket to the 'next level' in the journey of life - a type of heaven beyond human life.
The Leader is the story of the cult and its founders, Marshall Applewhite (aka Ti) and Bonnie Nettles (aka Do). Tim and Vera will be playing Marshall and Bonnie respectively in the film. Simon Rex is expected to play a key devotee of the cult who falls in love with a fellow cult member and faces devastating consequences. The film will be written and directed by Michael Gallagher.
The Leader will follow how Ti and Do rise to the top of a group of members who strongly believed that they will be transported off to a new world from this planet by a spaceship. Under the instructions of these two leaders, the members of the cult had to give up all worldly pleasures including family, friends, sexuality, individuality, and money.
After Bonnie passed away from cancer in 1985, things began to go even more off the rails, resulting in the group’s suicide in 1997. Michael Gallagher will also produce The Leader on behalf of Cinemand with Balcony 9 Productions’ Joel David Moore and Max Osswald.