Nicolas Cage To Play Joe Exotic 'Tiger King' In Scripted Series

It seems that the madness surrounding Tiger King on Netflix is being capitalized and being worked upon in as many ways as possible. And none other than the Nicolas Cage has been roped in to play Joe Exotic, the subject of Netflix's breakout docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.

Cage will play Joe in an eight-episode scripted series from CBS Television Studios and Imagine Television. It is based on a Texas Monthly story published in 2019.

American Vandal showrunner Dan Lagana, who has an overall deal at CBS TV Studios, and Paul Young optioned the article in June 2019, well before Tiger King became a word-of-mouth phenomenon. Cage had been in talks to play the lead role since April. CBS TV Studios and Imagine are taking the show out to potential buyers soon.

The Texas Monthly story by Leif Reigstad recounts how Joe Schreibvogel built his private zoo in Oklahoma and details his feuds with Jeff Lowe and Carole Baskin, both of whom are prominently featured in Tiger King. The scripted project, currently titled Joe Exotic, will center on Joe as he fights to keep his animal park even at the risk of losing his sanity. It will explore how Joe became Joe Exotic and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation.

Lagana will serve as writer and showrunner and executive produce with Young of Make Good Content, Imagine's Brian Grazer and Samie Kim Falvey, Cage (via his Saturn Films), and Scott Brown and Megan Creydt of Texas Monthly.

Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon is set to executive produce and play Baskin in a show from Universal Content Productions based on Wondery's Joe Exotic podcast. That project has been in the works since November.