If you were looking forward to Nicolas Cage playing the infamous Joe Exotic, you'll have to settle for another one of his current and upcoming offbeat roles. Amazon Prime Video has decided to not move forward with a scripted series that would've seen Cage portray the subject of the hit Netflix docuseries.
The project was set up at Amazon for development by CBS Studios and Imagine Television Studios about a year ago when Tiger King's popularity was at an all-time high and we were all stuck at home consumed by the docuseries. The popularity dipped in the last year once the hype wore off and the project never went past the script stage. It seems highly unlikely that the project will be shopped elsewhere following Amazon's dismissal. If you are looking for a Tiger King project, Peacock is still moving forward with their Joe Exotic limited series which just recently started production. The Peacock project stars Kate Mckinnon as Carole Baskin and John Cameron Mitchell as Joe Exotic.
The Amazon project, which was written by American Vandal showrunner Dan Lagana, would've centered around Joe Shreibvogel (Cage), an eccentric, exotic zookeeper in Oklahoma who fights to keep his park. We would've been in the lion's den with Joe as we learn how he became Joe Exotic and how he lost himself to point of ending up in prison in a botched murder-for-hire plot. The project was based on the "Texas Monthly" article "Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into The World of a Man Gone Wild", by Leif Reigstad.
Are YOU disappointed you won't get to see Nicolas Cage portray Joe Exotic?