Actor Nicolas Cage will star as the imprisoned Tiger King zookeeper Joe Exotic in an upcoming TV series made.
In addition to playing Exotic, the Oscar-winning American actor will also act as an executive producer for the show. Similar to Netflix‘s docuseries, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Murder, this miniseries will be based on the story about Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage. As for Exotic’s rival, Carole Baskin, Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon will be taking up the character.
Tiger King was watched a reported 34 million times in just 10 days following its release in March. According to Variety, Oscar-winning producer Brian Grazer, whose notable works include A Beautiful Mind, spearheads the mini-series. He and his production team will seek to “explore how he became Joe Exotic, and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation”.
Cage, who won the best actor Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas (1995), enjoys a cult following and has starred in a wide range of box office hits including Face/Off, Con Air and National Treasure. This project will serve as his first major foray into television.