Nicolas Cage reportedly set to play Joe Exotic in a scripted Tiger King series

The combination of a totally bizarre “too good to be true” story and people in quarantine has made Tiger King one of the hottest series right now. The Netflix true crime docuseries that followed Joe Exotic and other big cat zoo owners caught the world by storm as each reveal throughout the show got to be more and more outrageous.

Naturally, since Tiger King is the thing anyone can talk about, people in the entertainment industry are trying to get in on the fun. According to Variety, that means a potential eight episode limited series that’ll reportedly star Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic.

In addition, Cage will be an executive producer on the show along with showrunner Dan Lagana, who was showrunner for American Vandal, and Paul Young from Key & Peele.

The series description makes it sound pretty much like what has been going on in the docuseries, although we don’t know how much other notable figures like Carole Baskin and Doc Antle will factor into this show.

Based on the Texas Monthly article Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild by Leif Reigstad, the story centers around Joe Shreibvogel, an eccentric, exotic zookeeper in Oklahoma who fights to keep his park — even at the risk of losing his sanity. 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.

Last month, it was revealed that Ryan Murphy was considering a scripted Joe Exotic project that would have Rob Lowe as the main character.

The issue with both Tiger King scripted series is that it’s going to be a while before either of these projects actually air a finished product (if they ever do). While the Tiger King craze is high, is it realistic to believe that it can be maintained for a year or two that people will actually care about these projects? Making a Murderer similarly captured the world a few years ago and if a scripted series were to air right now where John Travolta played Steven Avery, that would be a bit strange to see. Whether it’s the Nicolas Cage version and/or the Rob Lowe version, expecting people to maintain their interest after a couple years, unless there’s an update to the original series, is going to be a tough ask but if money can be made, they’re going to try and capitalize.

[Variety]