Deadline studies that Leslie Odom Jr. is about 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 bit of historical past I used to be not conscious of. Along with adapting the story, Odom Jr. may also 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 few profoundly alienated Davis and his seek for acceptance. It’s a rollicking journey that touches on complicated, 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 collection 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 price if he convinces a mortal (Jack Klugman) to signal away his soul. The collection didn’t transfer ahead, however the pilot did display screen on NBC the next yr 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 advised that Davis Jr. be invited to develop into an honorary warlock, and fewer than a month later, Davis Jr. wrote again.
I might be most completely satisfied to simply accept your honorary membership, and I’m happy to be taught that nobody was offended by our current movie “Poor Devil.” As I’ll be performing in Vegas on the Sands Resort from now till April eighth, maybe you possibly can prepare 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 could 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. isn’t 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 supposed 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 just lately introduced that Scarlett Johansson would star within the film.
