Joe Exotic reaches out to Nicolas Cage and John Cameron Mitchell over rival TV series

After it was announced Nicolas Cage will be playing the Tiger King in a new series and John Cameron Mitchell will be playing him in another, Joe Exotic has revealed he wants to be in direct contact with both actors.

Nicolas is going to step into Joe’s shoes for a scripted series based on Joe’s life, following the success of the Netflix docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness.

Variety reports that the actor will play the former zoo owner in an eight-episode series that’s being produced by CBS.

The series is reportedly based on the Texas Monthly article, Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild.

This is the second scripted series coming our way based on Joe Exotic’s life, with Kate McKinnon attached to star and executive producer a different series.

John Cameron Mitchell, who is best known as the creator and star of Broadway show Hedwig And The Angry Inch, will take on the convict and Kate will play the role of his big rival Carole Baskin.

The zookeeper is currently serving a 22-year life sentence for the plot to kill Carole, and the shooting of five tigers.

Joe won’t let prison stop him from letting us know what he really thinks though, via his Twitter account.

He wrote today: ‘I want to be in direct email contact with John Cameron Mitchell and Nicholas (sic) Cage during filming so they know the real me instead of made up bull***t.’

It’s clear that he wants to be able to have some say in how he’s portrayed.

The scripted series starring Nicolas will show how Joe Exotic, an eccentric zookeeper in Oklahoma, ‘fought to keep his park even at the risk of losing his sanity’.

According to Variety, ‘the series will live in the lion’s den with Joe, explore how he became Joe Exotic, and how he lost himself to a character of his own creation’.

Dan Lagana will be the showrunner, writer and executive producer on the series, which will be Nicolas’ first TV role in his career.

The series starring John will retell the story of Joe and Carol’s clash over animal rights and animal abuse. 

Joe previously revealed the two Hollywood actors he would prefer to play him in any future film adaptation.

‘He would like Brad Pitt or David Spade to play him,’ Tiger King director Rebecca Chaikin told The Hollywood Reporter.

‘He doesn’t refer to David Spade as David Spade — he refers to him as Joe Dirt.’

Release dates for either Joe Exotic series are yet to be announced.

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