The last time Warner Bros. took inspiration from a Wired magazine article and used it as the fuel for a film, the result was the critical, commercial and now award-winning hit Argo. So it’s not surprising to see the studio mining the magazine’s pages for another intriguing tale, the mad true story of antivirus program pioneer John McAfee.

Crazy, Stupid, Love directing team John Requa and Glenn Ficarra are on board to co-write, direct and produce the eventual film based on Joshua Davis’ recent article through their own company, Zaftig Films.

McAfee, now 66, once worked as a NASA programmer, but parlayed his software skills to develop the first commercial antivirus program (users might know it best for its endless demands to be updated). So far, so standard. But then it gets truly odd.

McAfee sold his stock in McAfee Associations in 1994 for a rich sum and since then has been involved in various legal wrangles. He’s sought political asylum in Guatemala, been evading authorities in Belize and been sought for questioning in the murder of neighbour Gregory Viant Faull. Oh, and there was his Walter White-style life making methamphetamine and possessing unlicensed weapons.

On December 12, despite several attempts to avoid extradition, he was deported to the US.

Requa and Ficarra will be developing the project even as they work up their next planned film, con artist romantic thriller Focus, which coincidentally had targeted Argo’s Ben Affleck to star alongside Kristen Stewart, though he’s no longer involved.