After Tiger King mania gripped us back in March 2020, a scripted series starring Nicolas Cage as the beyond chaotic Joe Exotic was greenlit. Sadly, it seems as though production on the series has now been cancelled, as Amazon Prime has decided not to proceed with production and, according to Deadline, it appears unlikely that the show will be sold elsewhere.
For those of you who need a reminder, since the hugely popular Netflix docuseries came out literally an entire pandemic ago, Tiger King followed big cat breeder Joe Exotic, his zoo and the toxic rivalries he had with competitors, such as the free-spirited though unnervingly positive Carole Baskin. A failed presidential run, shady business partnerships and a fatal accident at his zoo led Joe to spiral and attempt to assassinate Carole, leading to his arrest and imprisonment.
The Nicolas Cage-scripted show was planned to depict the earlier half of the docuseries, based on the 2019 article, “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild”. Produced by Nic alongside American Vandal showrunner Dan Lagana, it was to be set mainly within the big cat dens themselves as Joe fought to keep his zoo.
Nic confirmed the updates to Variety, stating: “I read two excellent scripts, which I did think were excellent, but I think Amazon ultimately felt that it was material that had become past tense because it took so long for it to come together. They felt at one point that it was lightning in a bottle, but that point has since faded into the distance and it’s no longer relevant.”
However, for all you cool cats and kittens still invested in the zookeeper drama, the CBS produced series wasn’t the only one in the works. NBC streaming service Peacock still seem to be going ahead with their take on all the big cat anarchy. Starring SNL’s Kate McKinnon as the potentially-murdered-her-husband Dancing with the Stars alumni Carole Baskin, Kyle MacLachlan as Howard Baskin, and John Cameron Mitchell (Girls) as Joe. Little other detail is known about the show as of yet, though an NBC executive has called it “bold” and “provocative”.