John McAfee was a colorful computer programmer — he developed the anti-virus software that still bears his name — as well as a third-party presidential candidate, and a murder suspect, and now Tim Roth has installed himself in an upcoming movie playing Marc McCloud, a character based on the pioneer.
Today The Hollywood Reporter revealed the details; the film will be called Stealing McCloud, and will follow the titular character and an assembled group of friends who help him escape to freedom, after he is arrested and jailed in Europe on charges related to tax evasion. Skateboarder and rapper Logan Yuzna, a friend of Roth’s, is set to direct, and says of the star,
“[It is] an absolute honor to have my first live action feature film star Tim Roth, who has been a hero of mine since The Hit,” Yuzna said. The rest of the cast and production team is outstanding. I’m looking forward to this film gaining wide distribution.”
The movie will be shot in Spain next month, and includes The Handmaid’s Tale’s Nina Kiri, Falling Skies’ Peter Shinkoda, and The Strain’s Richard Samuel among the cast. No release date is set for the project, though it is set to be marketed at the Cannes Film Festival later this year.
McAfee died by suicide in Spain last year while awaiting extradition to the United States on charges of income tax evasion. The film’s screenwriter, Timothy York, hopes to honor McAfee’s eccentric existence.
“I was inspired by the story of John McAfee and how we could break him out of jail if he hadn’t unfortunately passed away,” Timothy York said. “John was a hero of mine and Eric Oh, myself and Logan threw around several ideas on how we could honor his tech abilities and legacy. Stealing McCloud became the instrument.”