Tied to the widespread, sporadically successful anti-virus software, the name McAfee was for a long time thought to be just that: a lucrative company putting out a popular product. The past few years have altered that perception, however, as a searing wave of outlandish antics tied to founder John McAfee have just come to light, a development that Hollywood naturally wants to see brought to the big screen.
Variety reports John Requa and Glenn Ficarra — the writing/directing team behind the smash hit “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and the upcoming comedy “Focus” — have been tapped by WB to bring McAfee’s story to the screen under the same positions. Based on writer Joshua Davis‘ engrossing and completely deserving Wired article on the British-American developer, “John McAfee’s Last Stand,” the film will focus largely not on his early programming success, but rather his recent eccentric activities in the country of Belize.
McAfee — now removed from Central America and settled in Portland, Oregon — founded McAfee Associates in 1987, used the first anti-virus software ever to take the company public for $80 million, and then resigned from the company seven years later. After a string of business ventures and financial losses, he then turned toward a new chapter in life: one hatched under the guise of research and retirement in Belize, and as the article charts further, would later involve intense police standoffs, teenage girlfriends, and the unsolved murder of McAfee’s neighbor.
Requa and Ficarra initially seem an odd choice for such unhinged subject matter, at least until their first joint directorial effort, “I Love You, Philip Morris” comes to mind. That Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor comedy-drama, while definitely flawed, features a similar law-evasion storyline, as well as a darkly humorous tinge that could easily be applied to McAfee’s heightened life story. Either way, definitely take a look at Davis’ article, and keep a close eye as Warner Bros. gets this one going quick.
