Just when you thought Joe Exotic had finally disappeared from your news feed, he found a way to leap back on our screens: The breeder-turned-convict has decided to steal the Declaration of Independence.
Just kidding—though we wouldn’t put it past him. But National Treasure actor Nicolas Cage has signed on to play Exotic in an eight-episode Tiger King series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The script will apparently revolve around the 2019 New York magazine feature chronicling Exotic’s life, though details about Cage’s role remain unclear. Surely he has to get the bleach-blonde mullet, right? And the sequined shirt? Can you even imagine the power Cage will wield with that kind of character in his grasp? It’s frightening. Maybe more frightening than when he donned a bear suit for The Wicker Man.
In other insane news, this will actually be Cage’s first-ever television role. He’s never been on a TV show, and he chose now—2020—to play an absolutely unhinged polygamist zoo owner. He’s apparently been in talks to play Exotic since April. Though we were fawning over Dax Shephard and Brad Pitt for our dream cast, Hollywood had already zoomed right past us—all the way to Nicolas Cage. I mean…it makes sense, right?
CBS Television Studios and Imagine Entertainment will produce the project, though it’s unclear if and where the show will be available for streaming. American Vandal showrunner and Paul Young optioned the New York article for television in 2019, many moons before Tiger King overwhelmed our lives, so clearly they know something about making money that I don’t.
All I have to ask now is: Which totally-out-of-left-field actress will play Carole Baskin? Jane Fonda?? We’re ready for anything.