Michael C. Hall and Grace Caroline Currey have joined the cast of the film “The Leader.” It is based on the true story of Marshall Applewhite, the founder of a cult known as Heaven’s Gate. The cast already includes Tim Blake Nelson, who will play the titular role, as well as Vera Farmiga and Simon Rex.
“The Leader” – a chilling story of cult founders
“The Leader” is based on the true story of cult founders. Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga will portray Marshall Applewhite and his accomplice Bonnie Nettles, who led the cult known as Heaven’s Gate. Its members were followers of UFOs, believing that with the help of extraterrestrial beings, they would escape their earthly incarnations and reach paradise. In 1997, 39 of them committed the largest mass suicide in US history.
The film will tell the story of Nettles and Applewhite, who build a growing following of devotees. They link the success of their story to the planned arrival of a spaceship carrying new incarnations for the believers.
Michael C. Hall will play one of the cult’s key members – a wealthy man who seeks to gain Applewhite’s favor by supporting the cult with funds from his trust. Grace Caroline Currey’s character is a boutique owner from Oregon who, in the late 70s, decides to leave her family and join the cult.
The project will be directed by its screenwriter, Michael Gallagher (“The Thinning: New World Order”). “The Leader” will portray the tragedy of the Heaven’s Gate cult as an unfulfilled hope. It is a film about the dangers of the deceptions people tell themselves, about human yearning for a connection with the mysteries of faith, the director said.
Check out the trailer for the documentary “Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults.”
The phenomenon of Marshall Applewhite is explored in the four-episode documentary “Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults,” which premiered on HBO Max in December 2020. Watch its trailer.
