Nicolas Cage is reportedly going to play Tiger King's Joe Exotic
A new scripted series about Tiger King subject Joe Exotic is in the works, and one actor who should have no trouble tapping into the bonkers show's chaotic energy has reportedly been lined up.
Nicolas Cage will play Joe Exotic in a new eight-episode scripted series from Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios, Variety reports. The show will be based on the Texas Monthly article "Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild," and Dan Lagana will serve as showrunner after previously working on the true crime mockumentary series American Vandal for Netflix.
This is only the latest expansion of the Tiger King universe that spawned after Netflix's documentary series, which follows the feud between zookeeper Joe Exotic and activist Carole Baskin that leads to his conviction on federal charges, became a massive hit in March. In addition to this scripted series, the show has already spawned an upcoming follow-up documentary series on Investigation Discovery, and Ryan Murphy and Rob Lowe are reportedly considering their own scripted Joe Exotic project that Lowe would star in. Cage, meanwhile, adds this to the list of roles he's got on the docket including ... himself.
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The new series, according to Variety, will "live in the lion's den with Joe, explore how he became Joe Exotic, and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation." There's no news yet on who might be cast in other key roles like Baskin, although were Cage to end up playing all the major characters Norbit-style, well, we wouldn't not watch.
