Nicolas Cage to star as Joe Exotic in scripted Tiger King TV series

Dan Lagana, former showrunner of Netflix’s American Vandal, will write and helm the series

Nicolas Cage to star as Joe Exotic in scripted Tiger King TV series 1

Joe Exotic, the subject of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King, will be played by Nicolas Cage in an eight-episode scripted series being produced by Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios.

Based on Leif Reigstad’s Texas Monthly article Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild, the series will center around eccentric, exotic zookeeper Joe Exotic (Joe Schreibvogel in real life) who fights to keep his park in Oklahoma even at the risk of losing his sanity. It will explore how he became Joe Exotic and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation.

This marks Cage’s first-ever regular television role in his entire acting career. The 56-year-old actor is best known for his role as Ben Sanderson in the 1995 romance drama Leaving Las Vegas, which earned him an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award. His other notable acting credits include the 1987 rom-com Moonstruck, 1997 sci-fi film Face/Off, action-adventure movie series National Treasure, Marvel’s Ghost Rider film series, and many others.

As expected, Nicolas Cage fans are thrilled with the casting news.

Some people, however, think that David Spade and Rob Corddry would make a better Joe Exotic than cage.

Interestingly, others can’t wait to see the series for bizarre reasons.

Dan Lagana, former helmer of Netflix’s mockumentary series American Vandal, will serve as writer and showrunner of the series. Under his overall deal at CBS TV Studios, Lagana will also executive produce the series along with Cage via Saturn Films and Paul Young via Make Good Content. Brian Grazer and Samie Kim Falvey will also executive produce the show for Imagine, and Scott Brown and Megan Creydt for Texas Monthly.

The Nicolas Cage-led series is the second announced scripted series inspired by the success of Netflix’s Tiger King. The first scripted series, which was announced late last year, is based on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic. Kate McKinnon is set to executive produce the series and is attached to play the role of Carole Baskin, a big-cat rights activist who accused Joe Exotic of abusing and exploiting wild animals.

Source: Variety