Tiger King lives on!
According to THR, a scripted series based on the hit Netflix docuseries, Tiger King, is in the works at CBS Television Studios.
We already know who will be suiting up as Joe Exotic.
Nicolas Cage has been tapped to play the man who became an overnight celebrity thanks to the roaring success of the Netflix series.
Cage had been in the running for the role since April, but is thought that negotiations took some time to finalize.
The eight-episode series will be shopped to potential buyers soon, and there’s a good chance it will spark a bidding war.
The larger than life personalities at the wheel of the Netflix series found themselves propelled to stardom as people binged the series.
From wild twists to even wilder revelations being revealed about them in the media, the series certainly gave people a lot to chew on.
The Texas Monthly story by Leif Reigstad details how Joe Schreibvogel built his private zoo in Oklahoma and his feuds with Jeff Lowe and Carole Baskin, both of whom are prominently featured in Tiger King.
The new series, currently titled Joe Exotic, will center on Joe as he fights to keep his animal park even at the risk of losing his sanity.
“It will explore how Joe became Joe Exotic and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation,” according to THR.
American Vandal showrunner Dan Lagana is on board as writer and showrunner and executive produce with Paul Young of Make Good Content, Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Samie Kim Falvey, Cage (via his Saturn Films), as well as Scott Brown and Megan Creydt of Texas Monthly.
Imagine’s James Seidman and Natalie Berkus are overseeing the project.
This is now the second scripted series about the wild world of Tiger King.
The first was announced last year, with Kate McKinnon attached to star in and executive produce a show based on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic.
McKinnon will play Carole Baskin, but the show has yet to start the writing process.
Baskin has remained silent following the Netflix series, likely because of the claims that that she murdered her long-missing husband Jack “Don” Lewis.
However, she did open up about the show over the weekend when a group of British Youtubers pranked her into thinking she was being interviewed by Jimmy Fallon.
There’s no telling which project might come first.
What are your thoughts on this news?
Are you ready for scripted shows telling the story?
Hit the comments below.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.