Nicolas Cage to play Tiger King star Joe Exotic in TV series

Nicolas Cage to play Tiger King star Joe Exotic in TV series
Nicolas Cage will play Tiger King star Joe Exotic in a scripted TV series.
PHOTO: Reuters, Netflix

Nicolas Cage will play Tiger King star Joe Exotic in a scripted TV series.

The eccentric zookeeper rose to fame after the release of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness - of which he was the subject - and it has now been revealed that a television drama is now in the works, with Nicolas set to star as the eponymous Tiger King.

CBS Studios announced plans for the eight-part limited series on Monday (May 4), but as of the time of writing, the show has not yet landed at a network.

According to Us Weekly magazine, the project will be based on Leif Reigstad's Texas Monthly article, Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild, rather than the Netflix documentary.

The series will mark the first TV show that movie star Nicolas has ever starred in, and he will also work as a producer for the series alongside Brian Grazer, Samie Kim Falvey, Dan Lagana, Paul Young, Scott Brown, and Megan Creydt.

A log line for the planned show reads: "Joe Shreibvogel, 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."

For Nicolas, the role comes after several actors - including Kevin Bacon, Rob Lowe, and Orlando Bloom - have been eyed to play Joe in both film and TV adaptations of his life.

Joe is currently serving 22 years in prison for plotting to murder big cat sanctuary owner Carole Baskin.

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