Second McAfee movie announced: Who will play him?
Once there were none, but now Warner Bros. is apparently throwing its hat into the McAfee movie arena. What actor would have the rakish cragginess that smolders from McAfee's being?
When you have a colorful story, several artists will want to paint it.
Just a few weeks ago, John McAfee, the security expert who secured a difficult path out of Belize after being sought for questioning in connection with the murder of his neighbor -- announced that he'd sold the movie rights to his tale to a Montreal-based TV production company called Future Media.
Now, I understand that the great Warner Bros. has decided that it will participate in trying to make money out of the McAfee legend.
The Hollywood Reporter offers that Warner loved a Wired article about McAfee so much that it bought the rights.
John Requa and Glenn Ficarra -- the brains behind "Crazy, Stupid, Love" -- are to adapt the article and turn it into, presumably, a rip-roaring, thoughtful blockbuster.
Perhaps the most pulsating aspect will be the choice of star. Who will they cast in the role of McAfee? Neither Ryan Gosling nor Steve Carell from "Crazy, Stupid, Love" seems remotely appropriate.
Who would have the rakish cragginess that smolders from McAfee's being? My first instinct was Andy Garcia.
But then I look through the history of Requa and Ficarra's artistry and I see "Bad Santa." Suddenly Billy Bob Thornton feels like a promising idea: that sense of wayward genius melded with a dollop of menace.
Having recently been very proximate to McAfee -- after defeating the guards at his Miami hotel -- I can say that he is extremely well-preserved for his alleged 67 years.
Even so, I think we can safely rule out Ashton Kutcher. He will now be indelibly typecast as Steve Jobs.