Nicolas Cage To Become The Tiger King In Upcoming Joe Exotic Series (Report)

The Tiger King fervor is apparently far from over.

Nicolas Cage is set to star as Joe Exotic–the titular ‘king’ and lead figure of Netflix’s hit docuseries–in an eight-episode show coproduced and cofinanced by Imagine Television and CBS Television Studios, Variety reports. American Vandal showrunner Dan Lagana will write, showrun, and executive produce under his overall deal with CBS.

The series “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,” per Variety. Perhaps surprisingly, its main source of material is not Netflix’s hit documentary, but “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild,” a June 2019 feature article from Texas Monthly writer Leif Reigstad.

For those unfamiliar, both Reigstad’s story and Tiger King chronicle Exotic’s time as the owner of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, which specializes in big cats like tigers and lions. Exotic spent more than 20 years working with exotic animals, and some of his practices–such as breeding tiger cubs and charging people to pose with them for photos–drew the attention of animal activists, particularly Carole Baskin. Exotic and Baskin’s lengthy, often public feud eventually culminated in Exotic being sentenced to 22 years in prison for attempting to hire a hitman to kill Baskin.

Now, Cage will step into his shoes. The award-winning actor has starred in more than 100 films, including Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure, Face/Off, City of Angels, and Color Out of Space, but this will be his first regular television role. He’s represented by WME, Stride Management, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

As Variety notes, this is not the first Joe Exotic-related scripted series to begin development. Saturday Night Live comedian and actress Kate McKinnon is attached to star as Baskin in an upcoming series from Universal Content Productions. That production, based on the podcast Joe Exotic, is reportedly still seeking a writer.

There’s no reported timeframe for the debut of Lagana’s series–which isn’t a surprise, considering it appears to be in early development, and most productions are still shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to being executive produced by Lagana, the show will be exec produced by Paul Young of Make Good Content, Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Samie Kim Falvey, Cage via his production company Saturn Films, and Scott Brown and Megan Creydt for Texas Monthly. James Seidman and Natalie Berkus are overseeing the project for Imagine.