Zac Efron will star in 'King of the Jungle'.
Zac Efron
The Greatest Showman star will replace Seth Rogen in the project, which tells the story of tech mogul John McAfee.
McAfee is an antivirus software developer who made his fortune and then fled civilization for the jungles of Belize, where he's built a complex of guns, sex and madness.
In the film, Zac plays Ari Farman, a journalist for Wired magazine who takes on a mundane assignment to interview McAfee, but upon arriving in Belize finds himself drawn into a world of escalating paranoia, unstable realities and murder.
The film was originally set to star Rogen and Michael Keaton as Fuhrman and McAfee, respectively, but the project has been cancelled and new casting for the role of McAfee is currently underway.
The film's synopsis suggests it will be another dark role for the 32-year-old actor, who played American serial killer Ted Bundy in The Infamous Deadly Sins, and admitted earlier this year that he had “reluctance” to take on the role.
He said: “I had a lot of anxiety about playing a serial killer and being in this genre of film. I wasn't interested in glamorising anything, but I was interested in the psychological aspects of whether he could have true love or not.”
Zac added, “I was very hesitant, but I knew I could do it. I just didn't want to jump into anything that would come across as a desperate attempt to change my image. It's been a unique experience and something no one expected. I'm proud.”
“King of the Jungle” will be directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, whose previous films included “Love for You” and “I Love You Philip Morris.”
