John Cameron Mitchell accompanies Kate McKinnon on the Joe Exotic miniseries
As Amazon is currently developing the Nicolas Cage-directed drama for the character after it was acquired by CBS Studios, NBCUniversal has added Joe Exotic miniseries Hedwig and the bad customs Writer / star John Cameron Mitchell as an exotic who joins the previously cast Kate McKinnon (Saturday night live), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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“I am thrilled to take on the role of this modern folk antihero“Said Mitchell.”Joe and I are the same age, and like him, I grew up strangely in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. I feel like I know a little about this guy and his desperate attempt to conquer an inhospitable world.”
Based on Robert Moor’s Wondery Podcast, the series is produced by Etan Frankel (Shameless) will focus on big cat enthusiast Carole Baskin (McKinnon), who learns of Joe “Exotic” Spriter’s animal abuse and big cat breeding and sets out to close his business, creating a rivalry between the two. When Carole’s own shady past comes to light, Joe will fight for his business, trying to expose them for their hypocrisy.
“It’s clear that an over the top character like Joe needed someone very special“Steven O’Neill, executive vice president of casting and talent development for Universal Content Productions, said in a statement.”We’re thrilled that John Cameron Mitchell, a popular icon of the LGBTQ community, is taking on this compelling role. His casting speaks to our ongoing vision of universal storytelling, and we can’t wait for our audience to experience the show.”
Frankel, who is also developing a limited Evel Knievel series under the direction of Milo Ventimiglia (This is us) will also produce the project as executive producer in addition to McKinnon, Wonderys Hernan Lopez, Marshall Levy and Aaron Hart as part of his overall contract with UCP, while UCP is involved in the production.
The series was first announced as under development in November. To fight the streaming wars, NBCU set up the series for multi-platform broadcast on NBC, the new Peacock streaming platform, and USA Network, where it was originally set up. This business model is similar to Hulu’s with multiple networks of simultaneous streaming programs after their on-air debut, as well as HBOs with their HBO Max platform.
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Netflix documentaries Tiger King The world was first introduced to the bizarre nature of the Exotic and Baskin story last March and became an overnight sensation that hit the headlines across multiple social media platforms and became an audience within the first 10 days of their debut Reached 34.3 million unique viewers. This success led to the ordering of a follow-up special from Joel McHale (Community), a follow-up documentary on Investigation Discovery and the Cage screenplay series on CBS Television Studios, based on the Texas Monthly article “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey into the World of a Man Going Wild” by Leif Reigstad.
(Image Credit: Mark Sagliocco / Getty Images for MoMA’s The Contenders Series)
