Nicolas Cage to play Joe Exotic in a new Tiger King scripted series

(Image credit: Touchstone/Netflix)

Nicolas Cage has reportedly signed on to play Joe Exotic, the subject of the Netflix series Tiger King, in a scripted series from the showrunner of American Vandal.

According to Variety, the limited-time 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 Nicholas Cage, and there are few wilder roles the actor would be more suited for.

This isn't the first scripted series about the Tiger King to be announced since the Netflix series went viral. As we previously reported, a Ryan Murphy-led scripted show has been announced, with Rob Lowe co-producing and potentially starring as Exotic. 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 appeal.

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.