Johnny Depp will star in King of the Jungle, a dark comedy based on the true story of John McAfee, creator of the McAfee antivirus software.
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa will direct from a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The project is an adaptation of a Wired article by Joshua Davis. The feature is from Condé Nast Entertainment, Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures and Epic Entertainment.
The article, John McAfee’s Last Stand, followed McAfee, who cashed in his fortune, left civilization and moved to the jungle in Belize. There, he set-up a Colonel Kurtz-like compound of guns, sex and madness. In the film, a Wired magazine investigator accepts what he thinks is a run-of-the-mill assignment to interview McAfee, but once he arrives in Belize, he finds himself pulled into McAfee’s escalating paranoia, slippery reality and murder.
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The movie will be produced by Condé Nast’s Dawn Ostroff and Jeremy Steckler; Zaftig’s Charlie Gogolak, Ficarra and Requa; and Epic’s Joshua Davis. MadRiver’s Marc Butan and Epic’s Joshuah Bearman will executive produce.
IMR International is handling foreign sales at Cannes, with CAA repping domestic rights.
Depp will soon be seen in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and his other upcoming films include Fox’s Murder on the Orient Express, Miramax’s LAbyrinth and Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2. The actor is repped by CAA.
Alexander and Karaszewski are repped by CAA and attorney Christine Cuddy; Requa and Ficarra are with CAA and attorney Jeff Frankel; Condé Nast Entertainment is repped by CAA and attorney Ziffren Brittenham; and Davis is with UTA and attorney Linda Lichter.
