The wild, weird story of anti-virus software mogul John McAfee is undoubtedly cinematic. There has already been one documentary about his strange life (“Gringo: The Dangerous Life Of John McAfee“), and way back in 2013, two different feature films were in development: one from “Crazy, Stupid, Love” duo John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, and another from a company called Impact Future Media. Well, one of them just got Johnny Depp to star, and you can probably guess which one.
The beleaguered star has signed up for Requa and Ficarra’s dark comedy, “King Of The Jungle.” Based on writer Joshua Davis‘ Wired article “John McAfee’s Last Stand,” the film will delve into McAfee’s post-software success, where he moved to Central America and soon found himself involved with police standoffs, teenage girlfriends, and the case of the unsolved murder of his neighbor. You really couldn’t make this stuff up, and Depp is certainly colorful enough to pull off the oddball character.
No word yet on when this will roll, but the project will be stumped around the Cannes market this month, and probably once enough pre-sales are made, the wheels will really start turning. Depp can next be seen in “Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” which opens on May 26th. [Variety]