news

This Just in: Nicolas Cage Is Set to Play Joe Exotic in New ‘Tiger King’ Series

ATTN all you cool cats and kittens: CBS just tapped Nicolas Cage to play Joe Exotic in an all-new series.

The 56-year-old actor is set to star in an eight episode TV show inspired by Tiger King, according to Variety. Cage will portray the infamous zookeeper turned inmate, who rose to popularity after Netflix publicized his life story.

The series is currently being developed by Imagine Television Studios and CBS Television Studios and is based on the now-viral article “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey into the World of a Man Gone Wild” by Leif Reigstad, which was published in Texas Monthly.

We’re not totally surprised by the news, since Dan Lagana (American Vandal) obtained the rights to adapt the article for TV back in 2019. He’ll not only serve as writer and showrunner, but he’ll also executive produce the series alongside Cage (The Wicker Man), Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind), Samie Kim Falvey (68 Whiskey) and Scott Brown (Castle Rock).

It’s important to point out this is one of many scripted series that are being developed about Joe Exotic. In addition to Kate McKinnon’s new project, Rob Lowe is also teaming up with Ryan Murphy to develop their own version.

Is it excessive? Absolutely…but we’ll be tuning in regardless.

Dax Shepard & Ed Norton Both *Really* Want to Play Joe Exotic in the ‘Tiger King’ Biopic



Greta Heggeness

Senior Editor

Greta Heggeness is a California-based editor at PureWow and has been writing about entertainment since 2015. She covers everything from awards shows to exclusive celebrity...
read full bio

Why You Should Trust Us

PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women’s walking shoes that won’t hurt your feet, we’ve got you covered.