Nicolas Cage To Star As ‘Tiger King’s’ Joe Exotic In Scripted Series

Nicolas Cage is set to star as “Tiger King’s” Joe Exotic in an eight-episode scripted series.

“Tiger King” has become one of the most popular shows on Netflix. And now an eight-episode series based on the Texas Monthly article “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild” by Leif Reigstad is reportedly in the works starring Cage, according to Variety.

CBS TV Studios optioned the article in June 2019. Dan Lagana will serve as the writer, showrunner and executive producer under the studio. Paul Young will also executive produce via Make Good Content.

Meanwhile, Brian Grazer and Samie Kim Falvey will executive produce for Imagine, Scott Brown and Megan Creydt will do the same for Texas Monthly. Cage, who will be playing Joe Exotic, will also executive produce through Saturn Films.

The story of the upcoming series will revolve around Joe Schreibvogel or Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage more popularly known as Joe Exotic. It will showcase how and why he was seen as an eccentric and exotic zookeeper in Oklahoma. It will also feature how he fought for his park even at the risk of losing his sanity and explore how he became who he is today.

The upcoming series will be Cage’s first regular TV role. The actor is known for his movies “Moonstruck,” “Raising Arizona,” “Face/Off,” “National Treasure” and “Ghost Rider.”

Cage has a successful acting career. He even won the Academy Award for Best Actor for “Leaving Las Vegas.” He also scored a nomination in the same category for his 2002 dramedy film “Adaptation.”

Meanwhile, in a previous interview, Exotic said that he wanted David Spade or Brad Pitt to play his character in the “Tiger King” movie adaptation. The “Grown Up” star reacted and said that the character was better suited for him compared to the “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” actor.

“Joe Exotic said me or Brad Pitt and I think I know which way it’s gonna head. I see Brad at auditions all the time and it’s always tense,” Spade said in a virtual interview.

“You know what Brad does? He brings his Oscar to auditions now, which I don’t think you’re allowed to do that in SAG.”

Spade said that the movie has to be “more dramatic” to get the details right and for him, his character is perfect for the role.

“I think Joe is a little too squirrelly for Brad. That might be wishful thinking, Brad is so studly and I’m a little more squirrelly,” he added.