LOS ANGELES – The saga of Joe Exotic is getting another Hollywood chapter, with Kate McKinnon starring as his rival in a limited TV series.
The “Saturday Night Live” star will play Carole Baskin, who sought to shut down Joseph Maldonado-Passage’s for-profit breeding of big cats. The conflict became a pop culture sensation with Netflix’s docuseries “Tiger King.”
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The series, ordered without a pilot episode, will be based on the Wondery podcast “Joe Exotic,” NBCUniversal Television and Streaming said Tuesday.
It's planned for release across three corporate siblings: the NBC broadcast network, cable’s USA channel and the recently launched Peacock streaming service, NBC Universal said.
McKinnon also will be an executiver producer for the show with the working title of “Joe Exotic,” Maldonado-Passage's nickname. He's also known by the surname Schreibvogel.
Maldonado-Passage is serving a 22-year federal prison term for killing five tigers and plotting to have Baskin killed. In June, a federal judge awarded Baskin ownership of the private Oklahoma zoo run by Maldonado-Passage.
The Joe Exotic role has yet to be cast, NBCUniversal said. Production and release dates were not announced.