Get ready to roar.
Nicolas Cage will play Joe Exotic in a scripted TV series based on the eccentric zookeeper — whose real name is Joe Schreibvogel — who shot to fame thanks to the Netflix docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.
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 Cage has ever starred in, and he will also work as a producer for the series. Dan Lagana, the Emmy-nominated Netflix mockumentary series American Vandal, will serve as writer, showrunner and executive producer.
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 Cage, the role comes after several actors, including Kevin Bacon, Rob Lowe, and Orlando Bloom, have been eyed to play Joe — who is currently serving 22 years in prison for plotting to murder big cat sanctuary owner Carole Baskin — in both film and TV adaptations of his life. — BANG
Photos: TPG News/Click Photos, Netflix