STX Circling U.S. for 'King of the Jungle' Comedy Starring Seth Rogen, Michael Keaton

The film is set to tell the "wild true story" of how John McAfee cashed in his tech fortune, left civilization and moved to the jungle in Belize.

STXfilms is in final negotiations to take U.S. distribution rights to King of the Jungle, a comedy based on the "wild true story" of rogue tech magnate — and 2020 U.S. presidential candidate — John McAfee, with Seth Rogen and Michael Keaton in talks to star.

The film — which IMR first introduced to buyers at the AFM in late 2018 and will continue foreign sales at the European Film Market in Berlin — is being directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I Love You Phillip Morris) from a script by Golden Globe and Emmy winners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. STX has committed to a wide U.S. theatrical release.

Based on Joshua Davis' Wired magazine article "John McAfee’s Last Stand," King of the Jungle will tell the story of how McAfee (Keaton), creator of the McAfee anti-virus software, 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, Wired magazine investigator Ari Furman (Rogen) 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."

The film will be produced by Jeremy Steckler of Conde Nast Entertainment, Zaftig’s Charlie Gogolak, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, MadRiver’s Marc Butan, Endurance’s Steve Richards, and Epic’s Joshua Davis.

CAA Media Finance is brokering the deal with Carolyn Steinmetz and Jordan Lichtman at STX.

Rogen is represented by UTA and Principal Entertainment LA; Keaton is represented by ICM Partners and Ziffren Brittenham.

IMR recently sold The Report to Amazon in an eight-figure Sundance deal. Its EFM slate also includes Black Flies with Mel Gibson and Tye Sheridan; Guy Ritchie's next film Bush; Ruin with Margot Robbie and Matthias Schoenaerts; and John Michael McDonough’s The Forgiven starring Ralph Fiennes.