Leslie Odom Jr. to star in horror movie about Sammy Davis Jr. and the Church of Satan

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Deadline experiences that Leslie Odom Jr. is ready to adapt a Rolling Stone article about Sammy Davis Jr. and the crooner’s unlikely connection to Anton LaVey and the Church of Devil. That’s a chunk of historical past I used to be not conscious of. Along with adapting the story, Odom Jr. will even star within the film.

What's Sammy Davis Jr.’s Connection to The Church of Devil?

The challenge will adapt Dance With the Satan by Alex Bhattacharji, which was revealed by Rolling Stone in August 2024. Bhattacharji described the article as “a delicate story a couple of profoundly alienated Davis and his seek for acceptance. It’s a rollicking journey that touches on advanced, well timed points: racial and sexual id, politics, faith, popular culture, and the counter-culture.“

In 1972, Davis Jr. was filming a pilot for Poor Satan, a possible new comedy sequence for NBC. He performed Sammy, a low-level demon who had spent centuries shovelling coal and was determined to department out. The Satan (performed by Christopher Lee) provides him an opportunity to show his value if he convinces a mortal (Jack Klugman) to signal away his soul. The sequence didn’t transfer ahead, however the pilot did display screen on NBC the next 12 months as a TV film, which is the way it caught the curiosity of Anton LaVey, the founding father of the Church of Devil.

Members of the Church of Devil watched this system and thought it was good publicity. It was instructed that Davis Jr. be invited to develop into an honorary warlock, and fewer than a month later, Davis Jr. wrote again.

I'd be most pleased to just accept your honorary membership, and I'm happy to be taught that nobody was offended by our current movie “Poor Satan.” As I’ll be performing in Vegas on the Sands Resort from now till April eighth, maybe you'll be able to organize to current your award to me once I’m on the San Carlos Circle Star Theater throughout April 10-16. As soon as once more, my thanks.

Peace and love, Sammy Davis Jr.

The entertainer’s first encounter with the Church of Devil might have occurred a number of years earlier. In his 1989 autobiography, he advised a narrative of how he “accepted an impromptu invitation to a closely ritualized Church of Devil ceremony within the Hollywood Hills that, to his delight, resulted in a drug-fueled orgy.“

Leslie Odom Jr. Is aware of a Little One thing In regards to the Forces of Devil

Odom Jr. is not any stranger to the forces of Devil, as he beforehand starred in The Exorcist: Believer. The movie, which was directed and co-written by David Gordon Inexperienced, was meant to be the primary of a brand new trilogy (The Exorcist: Deceiver had even been given a 2025 launch date), however the lacklustre field workplace and scathing evaluations compelled the studio to rethink its plans. Mike Flanagan was then introduced in to develop a “radical new take” on the franchise, and it was not too long ago introduced that Scarlett Johansson would star within the film.