NBCUniversal seems to have high hopes for its upcoming limited series Joe Exotic, based on the same real life events that inspired Netflix’s Tiger King. The media conglomerate has now decided to premiere the Kate McKinnon-led series across 3 different platforms, including NBC itself, the Peacock streaming service, and the cable channel USA.
With Kate McKinnon on board as both executive producer and in the lead role of Carole Baskin, it was clear the project would be rather high profile from the start. Interestingly enough, since it was initiated in November 2019, the series actually began its life before Tiger King became Netflix’s surprise hit of 2020. While both are based on the same people and events, the NBCU series is based specifically on season 2 of the Over My Dead Body true crime podcast. The popularity of Netflix’s documentary miniseries has only heightened anticipation for NBCU’s take on the story.
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Etan Frankel, whose past work includes hits like Shameless and Friday Night Lights, is attached to the project as writer and executive producer, with McKinnon currently being the only confirmed cast member as Carole Baskin (along with her own executive producer duties). The story focuses on Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida, and her feud with eccentric zookeeper Joe Exotic, whom she believes is exploiting his animals for money. The Netflix series was condemned by the real-life Baskin as being unfair to her, so maybe NBCU’s project will come at the idea from a different angle and show things in a new light.
It’s also worth mentioning that this particular series is different from yet another announced project on the same series of events which is set to feature Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic. It’s certainly not surprising to see multiple projects focusing around the same subject matter after the near overwhelming success of the Netflix series, and hopefully this means there will be several new perspectives on the story.
Rolling out a new series on so many platforms at once might seem like overkill to some. But to the end of maximizing profits, it certainly seems like a smart business decision, especially since it shouldn’t be much of a hassle for NBCU to spread it out onto 3 platforms they already own. Now, whether or not audiences react as favorably as they did to their first time experiencing this story is another matter entirely. But it could be that the surreal antics that make up the strange but true story are enough to keep up interest.
Joe Exotic currently has no confirmed release date.
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Source: Deadline
