Heaven’s Gate coming to the big screen in blockbuster

Considering the spectacular nature of the nation’s largest mass suicide on March 26, 1997 when 21 men and 18 women wearing the same black Nike shoes, covered in purple blankets killed themselves at a rented Rancho Santa Fe estate, it seemed only a matter of time when the incident would go Hollywood..

That time has come, according to Britta DeVore of entertainment news site Collider. Vera Farmiga and Tim Blake Nelson have are starring as Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite, respectively in “The Leader,” a Michael Gallagher-directed film expected to be a hot property at the 2023 European Film Market.

For those of us of a certain age who grew up in the 1990s, there’s no doubt you’ll remember the passing of the Comet Hale-Bopp. Glowing through the sky, the massive comet was easily spotted by the naked eye during most of 1997 even for those living in major cities with light pollution,” DeVore said.

“Unfortunately, the dazzling spectacle is also synonymous with the cult Heaven’s Gate, who committed a mass-suicide believing that the once-in-a-lifetime cosmic treat was their ticket to the ‘Next Level’ – a type of heaven beyond human life.”

DeVore added: “Now, for (somehow) the first time, the story of the cult and its founders, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles will be given the scripted film treatment in The Leader with Tim Blake Nelson (Dune 2) and Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring franchise) starring as Applewhite and Nettles, respectively.”

Michael Gallagher (Funny Story) directs and pens the production which will follow Applewhite, aka “Ti”, and Nettles’, aka “Do”, rise to the top of a group who wholeheartedly believed that a spaceship would remove them from this planet and take them off to a new world. Under Ti and Do’s instructions (and yes, those names are a reference to The Sound of Music), Heaven’s Gate members were to give up all worldly attachments including their family, friends, sexuality, individuality, and money – classic cult tactics! After Nettles passed away from cancer in 1985, things began to go even more off the rails, resulting in the group’s suicide in 1997.

The Leader will hit the market at the 2023 European Film Market in Berlin via sales agent, The Exchange. Gallagher also produces on behalf of Cinemand alongside Jana Winternitz, and Michael Wormser with Balcony 9 Productions’ Joel David Moore and Max Osswald. Daniel Taborga and Rishi Bajaj of Balcony 9 Productions executive produce with Evan Silverberg, Cassian Elwes, and Entertainment 360.

Following Nettles’s death, Applewhite convinced his followers that an alien spaceship would pick up their souls and transport them to the next life. Over several days, groups would take down a mixture of phenobarbital and applesauce or pudding, followed by a swig of vodka, and then place plastic bags over their heads to make their deaths guaranteed.

When the police received a tip and arrived at the Rancho Santa Fe home a little over one week later, they discovered a trauma-inducing scene of 39 deceased cult members wearing identical clothes: black shirts and sweatpants, armband patches with the words “Heaven’s Gate Away Team” stitched onto them, and black and white Nike Decades shoes – a line that was quickly discontinued by the manufacturer.