Johnny Depp will play John McAfee, creator of the world’s first antivirus software, in the dark comedy “King of the Jungle,” TheWrap has learned.
Based on an article by Joshua Davis in Wired Magazine, “King of the Jungle” tells the story of how McAfee took the fortune he amassed from his successful software and fled the United States to Belize. A reporter for Wired flies south of the border for what he thinks will be a simple interview with McAfee, but instead gets pulled into the tycoon’s web of paranoia and violence.
IMR International will handle foreign sales at Cannes for the film, which is directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (“Whisky Tango Foxtrot”) from a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (“Ed Wood,” “People vs. O.J. Simpson”).
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Ficarra and Requa will also produce with Dawn Ostroff and Jeremy Steckler of Conde Nast Entertainment, Charlie Gogolak of Zaftig Films, and Joshua Davis for Epic Entertainment. MadRiver Picture’s Marc Butan and Epic’s Joshuah Bearman will executive produce.
Depp is next slated to appear in theaters in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” due out May 26. He is represented by CAA, who are also repping domestic rights for this film.
Alexander and Karaszewski are represented by CAA and attorney Christine Cuddy; Requa and Ficarra are represented by CAA and attorney Jeff Frankel; Condé Nast Entertainment is represented by CAA and attorney Ziffren Brittenham; and Davis is represented by UTA and attorney Linda Lichter.
