Nicolas Cage has confirmed that he will not play Joe Exotic in Amazon’s Tiger King series, which has been put aside by the company.

Amazon took on the project back in September 2020 and Cage was slated to play the role of the Tiger King, Joe Exotic. However, Cage confirmed to Variety this week that the project has been cast aside for now.

“We should clear the record,” Cage 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.”

Amazon have not commented on the status of the project about the polarising zookeeper. Variety reported that the series –which was being produced by CBS studios – “may be shopped to other outlets.”

“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,” said Cage.

A separate Tiger King series based on the podcast Joe Exotic: Tiger King is set to go ahead, however. The limited TV series is said to feature Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin and Kyle McLachlan.

Cage recently acted and worked as a producer on the comedy horror flick, Willy’s Wonderland. The Long Beach native also appeared in Prisoners of the Ghostland and stars in Pig, which is slated for a July 16th release.

Joe Exotic is currently serving a 22 year prison sentence in a correctional facility in Fort Worth, Texas for 17 animal abuse charges and for attempting to hire a hitman to assassinate Carole Baskin. The reality star recently started his own cannabis brand.