Joe Exotic is the star of Tiger King - and there are at least three new shows on the way inspired by its success. Photo / Supplied
Joe Exotic is the star of Tiger King - and there are at least three new shows on the way inspired by its success. Photo / Supplied
Going cold turkey after devouring Tiger King?
At least three new shows inspired by the runaway success of the Netflix documentary series are coming.
As previously reported, the streaming service will drop a follow-up episode to the global smash this weekend and another documentary is in the works.
Now it's emerged that Hollywood heart-throb Rob Lowe is in talks to make a drama series about star Joe Exotic.
Netflix's new one-off special - The Tiger King and I - will be hosted by American comedian Joel McHale and feature follow-up interviews with many of those featured in the series about big cats and the US network of collector/conservationists.
In a video on Netflix's Twitter account, McHale said: "It's eye-opening and hopefully funny."
The Tiger King and I — a Tiger King after show hosted by Joel McHale and featuring brand new interviews with John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff, Erik Cowie, Rick Kirkman, and Jeff and Lauren Lowe — will premiere April 12 pic.twitter.com/8fbbNdaiDA
Meanwhile Tiger King's Carole Baskin and her missing husband Don Lewis are set to be the focus of a new documentary.
Animal rights activist Baskin featured in Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness due to her acrimonious relationship with private zookeeper Joe Exotic, who is in prison for paying a man US$3000 to kill her. But the series renewed questions about her spouse, who disappeared in 1997.
Lewis was declared legally dead in 2002. After Exotic alleged Baskin killed her husband, true crime network ID announced a new documentary with a focus on the couple.
In a press release for the show, Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic, ID said: "Love her or hate her, Carole is now in the centre ring of the big cat circus. Despite her claims of innocence, did she orchestrate the disappearance of Don Lewis to seize control of his fortune, consolidate power and lay waste to her foes? No one seems to be talking - except for one man - and that man is the centre of ID's upcoming investigative series."
Finally, Lowe is in discussions with screenwriter Ryan Murphy about a scripted show based on Exotic - real-name Joseph Maldonado-Passage.
The 56-year-old shared pictures of himself dressed as Joe on Instagram and wrote: "Rob Exotic. UPDATE: Ryan Murphy and I will be developing our version of this insane story. Stay tuned!"
Deadline confirmed the pair have had discussions but stressed that the project is in the "preliminary stages".
Lowe made his name as a member of the infamous Brat Pack group of young actors in the 80s and is known more recently for leading roles in The West Wing and Parks and Recreation. He's currently starring in 9-1-1: Lone Star, a series co-created and executive produced by Murphy.
Despite Tiger King's runaway success, Exotic's incarceration means he hasn't seen it and doesn't know his former husband's death features in the series.
Travis Maldonado died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2017. The documentary includes his horrified co-worker Joshua Dial's reaction.
Exotic is serving a 22-year sentence for trying to organise Baskin's murder and his current husband, Dillon Passage, hasn't told him Maldonado's death is covered.
Joe Exotic doesn't know the death of his former husband features in runaway hit doco series Tiger King. Photo / Supplied
Passage told Entertainment Tonight: "I feel like some things shouldn't have been shown in the docuseries, like Travis' accident in the office. I feel like that was very personal to Joe and that it was used for an emotional purpose and to get people more drawn in to the show.
"I don't think that's fair to Travis. He probably would not have wanted that put all over the world... And I didn't tell [Joe] that it was in there. I feel like he's definitely gonna be upset about it, so it's best that he doesn't know."
Despite that, Passage is happy overall with how the documentary turned out.
"[Filmmakers Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode] were really honest with me from the get-go. They said that the documentary was going to be about the big cat underworld so they wanted to see - obviously - about cub selling, cub petting and stuff like that. I don't feel taken advantage. Because they told Joe's story true as can be.
"Maybe they left out some of his more sensitive character aspects and kind of made him seem like more of an angry person who was yelling all the time. But he was definitely a wild character and he was very outspoken and he wasn't scared to share his opinion. And I feel like they showed it."
