Nicolas Cage to Star as ‘Tiger King’ Subject Joe Exotic in New Scripted Series

Nicolas Cage will return to our screens again, this time as Joe Exotic, the subject of Netflix’s breakout docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

Per THR, the Oscar Award-winning actor 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.

The report continues:

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. Imagine’s James Seidman and Natalie Berkus are overseeing the project.

The Cage-led series is the second scripted project based on Joe Exotic in the works. 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.