Nicolas Cage will play Joe Exotic in a TV series based on an article published for the "Tiger King" on Netflix. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
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May 4 (UPI) -- Nicolas Cage has been cast as Joe Exotic in a TV series based on the Tiger King subject, Variety reported. The series is based on a Texas Monthly article by Leif Reigstad titled "Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild."
Showrunner and producer Dan Lagana optioned the story in June 2019. The Netflix docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness premiered March 20, and The Hollywood Reporter added that Cage has been in talks for the role since April.
Exotic, whose real name is Joe Schreibvogel, built a zoo in Oklahoma in which he bred tigers. The Tiger King docuseries followed his controversial practice of rapidly breeding tigers to maintain a steady flow of baby cubs for visitors to pet.
The documentary crew ended up telling the story of Exotic's relationships and conviction for hiring a hitman to kill rival zookeeper Carole Baskin.
Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios are producing Lagana's series. Universal Content Productions also is producing a Joe Exotic series that has cast Kate McKinnon as Baskin. The Netflix series also presents suspicion that Baskin killed her ex-husband and fed him to her tigers.
Cage never has done series television in his nearly 40-year acting career. He appeared in a 1982 TV movie Best of Times and a David Lynch TV special after he appeared in Lynch's film Wild at Heart.
The actor won an Oscar for 1995's Leaving Las Vegas and enjoyed success in action movies The Rock, Face/Off and National Treasure.
