Zac Efron to star in comedy King of the Jungle, helmed by Crazy, Stupid, Love director duo

Zac Efron's next is a comedy, King Of The Jungle,  with director duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa of Crazy, Stupid, Love fame. The filmmakers will direct from a screenplay by Golden Globe and Emmy-winning writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, reported Variety.

Based on Joshua Davis' article published in Conde Nast's Wired magazine, the feature follows the true story of rogue tech magnate John McAfee, creator of the McAfee Antivirus software, who cashed-in his fortune and left civilisation. After moving to the Belize jungle, he set up a Colonel Kurtz-like compound of guns, sex and madness.

Zac Efron. Image from Twitter @DiscussingFilm

Efron will star as investigator Ari Furman, who arrives in the jungle and finds himself pulled into McAfee's paranoia.

Earlier Seth Rogen and Michael Keaton were set to star as Furman and McAfee respectively. Casting is underway for the role of McAfee.

Charlie Gogolak is attached to produce with Conde Nast Entertainment, MadRiver Pictures and Epic Entertainment. Ficarra and Requa are also producing through their banner, Zaftig Films. The film goes on floors early next year.

Efron is also set to voice Fred Jones in a new Scooby-Doo film, where Amanda Seyfried will bring life to Daphne Blake. The film, titled Scooby, is set to be directed by Tony Cervone from a script by Matt Lieberman.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)