Amazon has secured the rights to the scripted Joe Exotic series starring Nicolas Cage. Netflix's Tiger King caught the world off guard when it was released earlier this year. Exotic, who is still in jail and begging Donald Trump for a pardon, is pretty excited that Cage will be playing him in the upcoming series, which is based on a 2019 Texas Monthly story about the infamous private zoo in Oklahoma. Other Tiger King stars like Carole Baskin and Jeff Lowe will more than likely be included in the show since they are also mentioned quite a bit in the article.

It was announced back in May that Nicolas Cage would be taking on the role of Joe Exotic. The currently untitled series focuses on "an eccentric, exotic zookeeper in Oklahoma who fights to keep his park even at the risk of losing his sanity." 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." The series is the first-ever TV role for Cage.

Joe Exotic actually had comedian and Joe Dirt star David Spade at the top of his list to portray him. However, Spade, though flattered, didn't think he was the right one for the gig. The other actor at the top of his list was Brad Pitt, but he didn't get the role either. Instead, Nicolas Cage will be taking on the weird and wacky world of Exotic for the small screen. While some Tiger King fans were skeptical, a DeepFake video proved that Cage could be the perfect choice.

Joe Exotic is not having a good time in jail. He is still begging for a Presidential pardon and claims he was sexually assaulted behind bars. Authorities at the facility claim that no assault took place and that Exotic fabricated the story. Whatever the case may be, 2020 has been a weird year and one probably wouldn't even blink an eye if President Donald Trump handed out a pardon to the Tiger King star and then appointed him to a position on his re-election campaign.

Joe Exotic's husband, Dillon Passage had some thoughts on Nicolas Cage's casting. "I thought they were talking out their ass about a making movie, but it's legit now I guess," Passage said. "I'm pretty excited. It'll be interesting to see how somebody else portrays this because obviously I've lived this, but I'm excited to see how this all turns out." Passage is right about someone portraying Exotic, but it won't be for a movie, at least not yet. In other Tiger King news, Kate McKinnon will star as Carole Baskin in a separate scripted show based on the Netflix docuseries. The Hollywood Reporter was one of the first outlets to announce that Amazon had picked up the Joe Exotic scripted series starring Nicolas Cage.