Nicolas Cage to star in 'Tiger King' series
'Tiger King' was watched a reported 34 million times in just 10 days following its release in March.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Nicolas Cage will star in a scripted television series about flamboyant "Tiger King" zookeeper Joe Exotic, his publicist told AFP Monday.
The Oscar-winning US actor will also executive produce the show based on a magazine article about Exotic, who recently shot to fame as the subject of a wildly popular docuseries.
The surreal story of Exotic -- a gay, mullet-wearing private zoo owner now in prison for murder-for-hire -- became a US cultural phenomenon following the release of a Netflix documentary.
"Tiger King" was watched a reported 34 million times in just 10 days following its release in March, providing welcome relief to a nation under coronavirus lockdown.
Cage s series will be his first major foray into television, and is the second scripted show known to be in the works about Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage.
According to Variety, the eight-episode series will be created by CBS and Imagine s Brian Grazer, Oscar-winning producer of "A Beautiful Mind."
It will "explore how he became Joe Exotic, and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation," the Hollywood trade publication said.
Another television series based on a podcast about Exotic is also in development.
Cage, who won the best actor Oscar for "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995), enjoys a cult following and has starred in wide range of box office hits including "Face/Off," "Con Air" and "National Treasure."
