Nicolas Cage Cast as ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic

Actor Nicolas Cage is expected to play Joe Exotic from Netflix’s hit series Tiger King in a new scripted series about the eccentric zookeeper.

Nicolas Cage is set to star in a new eight-episode scripted series centered around Tiger King‘s Joe Schreibvogel — better known as Joe Exotic — according to a report by Variety.

The report added that the series will be taken to market in the next few days, and is being produced by Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios. The series will be based on an article in Texas Monthly, entitled, Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild.

The Tiger King television documentary was released on March 20 and quickly became a cult classic. And now, Cage is staring in what will be the first television role of his career.

The Tiger King character that Cage will star as is an eccentric, exotic zookeeper in Oklahoma who fights to keep his park, according to Variety, which added that the series will also explore how Schreibvogel became “Joe Exotic,” as well as how he lost himself to “a character of his own creation.”

The show’s writer, showrunner, and executive producer will be Dan Lagana, who was also the showrunner for the Emmy-nominated Netflix series American Vandal. Lagana has also worked on the MTV series Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, as well as the Hulu series Deadbeat.

Paul Young will also serve as executive producer through Make Good Content.

The new show staring Cage is the second scripted series about the strange world of Tiger King, according to Variety. The first spin-off series was announced late last year, and will reportedly star Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.