Nicolas Cage has reportedly signed up to play Joe Exotic, the main character of the Netflix series Tiger King, in a scripted series from the showrunner of American Vandal.
According to Variety, the limited series which has been pitched as an eight-episode run – will be based on the Texas Monthly article "Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild" by journalist Leif Reigstad.
For the role of convicted murder and violator of the Endangered Species Act, Cage will don Exotic's sequin animal print dress shirts and a bleached mullet as the series charts Exotic's journey from Joe Schreibvogel (his real name) through to the creation of the character, highlighting how Schreibvogel lost his identity along the way. This will be the first television role for Nicolas Cage, and there are few wilder roles the actor would be more suited for.
Below is the snippet from the Variey report:
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.
CBS TV Studios optioned the article in June of 2019. Dan Lagana will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer under his overall deal at CBS TV Studios with Paul 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. Full article here..
There's also a separate series that would see Kate McKinnon starring as Carole Baskin. Last month, Joel McHale led a Tiger King Netflix special when the tiger fever was at its peak.
Looks like the Tiger King still hasn't lost his fame.
As soon as the news broke, the fans came up with hilarious memes casting Nicolas cage as Joe Exotic. Below are the top reactions from the Tiger king fans:
Did someone say Nicolas Cage was starring as Joe Exotic in a #TigerKing series??? 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/r86UCwSWXD
— BROTHER (@BrotherHQ) May 4, 2020
There are a number of reasons why Nicolas Cage as Tiger King Joe Exotic makes sense. pic.twitter.com/Y3KE4F7L4o
— Ⓜ️ike Lahrman (@MikeLahrman) May 4, 2020
In other news - Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic. Demented perfection. #TigerKingNetflix #TigerKing #JoeExotic @netflix #nicolascage pic.twitter.com/CVFFIqqhLd
— Kate Rodger (@MsKateRodger) May 4, 2020
While I can definitely see Nicolas Cage living it up as Joe Exotic, I don’t know if I can picture him with 2 husbands #JoeExotic #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/H3to7F7l9U
— GlennHausen RULES ASS 🇮🇪🇭🇺🇵🇭 (@Every1SayIMBoss) May 4, 2020
Nicolas Cage is going to star as the Tiger King in a new TV series but what’s amazing is, he’s also going to play all of the tigers. pic.twitter.com/DKpKghOggl
— Bleeding Heart Liberal Marine (@zaharako) May 4, 2020
You need some help visualizing Nicolas Cage as #JoeExotic the #TigerKing here you go...
— He Hate My Take (@HeHateMyTake) May 5, 2020
How will Hollywood/Netflix politicize this show? LOL pic.twitter.com/pv2fG2YtFc
Proof that Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic is the perfect casting choice #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/rHP2PpA1HC
— Bethany Walker (@BethanyRWalker) May 4, 2020
Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic #Tigerking pic.twitter.com/sk5YVnBkBu
— Paul Miranda Rangel (@rangohabanero) May 5, 2020
Just finished #TigerKing, I have no words. Then I see this is happening.... Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic?! Whatever next? pic.twitter.com/Yg8UzoWMrC
— Natalie Heydon (@ginger_nats) May 4, 2020