Depp to star in film as McAfee antivirus software inventor

ENTERTAINMENT

Depp to star in film as McAfee antivirus software inventor

The Associated Press Published Monday, May 15, 2017 7:15AM EDT

In this combination photo, actor Johnny Depp, left, appears at the premiere of 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' on May 23, 2016, in Los Angeles. and anti-virus software founder John McAfee appears in the South Beach area of Miami Beach, Fla., on Dec 12, 2012 after being deported from Guatemala, where he had sought refuge to evade police questioning in the killing of a man in neighbouring Belize. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, right, and Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

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LOS ANGELES - Johnny Depp is set to star in "King of the Jungle," a dark comedy about the eccentric inventor of McAfee Antivirus software, John McAfee.

Conde Nast Entertainment said Sunday that the story is based on a Wired magazine article about the tech titan who left the business to live an isolated existence in the Belize jungle.

From "Ed Wood" screenwriting team Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, "King of the Jungle" will follow the reporter assigned to write about the paranoid McAfee.

"King of the Jungle" will be directed by "Crazy. Stupid. Love" directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. International and domestic distribution rights are up for sale at the Cannes Film Festival.

Depp can be seen next in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," out May 26.