NICOLAS Cage has said he has pulled out of playing Tiger King’s Joe Exotic after Amazon said they’d canned the series.
The Hollywood A-lister had signed up to to play the jailed animal fanatic after a Netflix series about him went global last year.
Nicolas, 57, said he had decided to step down from the role after leaning Amazon Studios were getting cold feet.
And after he quit, he said they binned the whole project over fears the hype about American born Joe, 58, had died down.
Nicolas said: “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.”
Joe came to the world’s attention in the docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.
He is currently serving 22 years behind bars for his role in a murder for hire plot concerning rights activist, Carole Baskin, 60, and for animal abuse.
Those working on the series are now looking to place the show with a new broadcaster.
After Joe’s popularity, a number of Tiger King-inspired series are in the works at Peacock, Discovery and more networks.
Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon will play Carole Baskin, in a limited series adapted from the Wondery podcast, Over My Dead Body Season 2: Joe Exotic.
And US actor Rob Lowe is also reportedly in discussions to play Joe for a new scripted series helmed by American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy.
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