HBO's Raven

[Kaleb]

Vince Gilligan Developing HBO Limited Series About Cult Leader Jim Jones

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.

Gilligan & MacClaren together again t:

 

[Eddie Dean]

Nevermore.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Why is this called Raven, exactly?

 

[Eddie Dean]

Jim Jones has a wisecracking raven for a sidekick.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Jim Jones has a wisecracking raven for a sidekick.

This show should also feature a cameo by the Kool-Aid Man. He should storm in angrily at the end and tell the audience to stop giving him a bad name, as it was actually Flavor-Aid that the cultists drank.

 

[Sawyer]

Vince Gilligan + interesting true crime story?

 

[James]

Why is this called Raven, exactly?

It's probably based off the book by the same name, about Jim Jones. But...I don't know why the book was called Raven. The mystery remains.

Ohh, maybe it's because he was a trickster of sorts. Ravens are seen as tricksters in some cultures and Jones sure did fool a lot of people. Speculation on my part though.

 

[moviefreak]

It is a good historical reminder. Jim Jones wasn't unique, at least in 1970s USA and specifically California where cults were all the rage. Take a look at this video of Rev Jim Jones in one of The People's Temple Christian Churches in California:

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JJ was an obsessive, narcissistic and most importantly a manipulative personality --he fooled a lot of people like Harvey Milk, Jerry Brown (the then California Governor) and assorted people including credible Catholic Jesuits.