Nicolas Cage to Play ‘Tiger King’s’ Joe Exotic

[Hoke Moseley]

Nicolas Cage to Play ‘Tiger King’s’ Joe Exotic in Scripted Series From ‘American Vandal’ Showrunner

Nicolas Cage is set to star in a scripted series centered on Joe Exotic, the subject of the Netflix docuseries “Tiger King,” Variety has learned exclusively.

The eight-episode series is being produced by Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios. It will be taken to market in the coming days. It is based on the Texas Monthly article “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild,” by Leif Reigstad.

Dan Lagana and Paul Young optioned the article through Lagana’s overall deal at CBS Television Studios in June of 2019. Lagana will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer with Young executive producing via Make Good Content. Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Samie Kim Falvey will executive produce for Imagine. Cage will executive produce via Saturn Films. Scott Brown and Megan Creydt will executive produce for Texas Monthly. Imagine’s James Seidman and Natalie Berkus are overseeing the project for the company.

The story centers around Joe Schreibvogel, a.k.a Joe Exotic, 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.

The role marks the first television role of Cage’s career. He has long been praised for his film work, having won the Academy Award for best actor for “Leaving Las Vegas” and getting a nomination in the same category for “Adaptation.” He is also known for his starring roles in films like “Moonstruck,” “Raising Arizona,” “Face/Off,” and the “National Treasure” and “Ghost Rider” films. He also recently lent his voice to the Oscar-winning animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.” His upcoming films include “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” and “Pig.”

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