Louis Theroux to make documentary about Tiger King star Joe Exotic

Feature-length special is being produced with the working title Louis Theroux: The Cult of Joe Exotic

Louis Theroux will front a new feature-length documentary about Joe Exotic (BBC)

Acclaimed documentarian Louis Theroux is set to front a new BBC documentary about Joe Exotic, the star of Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

Former zoo owner Exotic, real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage, had featured in Theroux’s 2011 documentary America’s Most Dangerous Pets, and is currently serving time in a Federal prison.

Tiger King focused on Exotic’s feud with animal rights activist Carole Baskin, which culminated in a murder-for-hire plot that, alongside a number of animal cruelty charges, landed Exotic in jail.

The new documentary, produced with the working title Louis Theroux: The Cult of Joe Exotic, is a feature-length exploration of Exotic, and will function as a sequel to Theroux’s original documentary.

Said Theroux: “This is one of those quintessentially American stories, taking place in the heartland of Oklahoma, with a cast of characters almost too colourful and larger-than-life to be believed.

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“I spent eight or nine days filming at the park back in 2011, over the course of three separate visits. I’d forgotten how much we shot until I went back into the footage during lockdown. It’s extraordinary how much was there. Since then the story just got stranger and bigger, and in going back at the end of last year I uncovered a real-life drama that took me in directions I never could have expected.”

The Cult of Joe Exotic will feature unseen footage gathered back in 2011, as well as new interviews with Exotic’s legal team and closest confidantes.

The 90-minute special will air on BBC Two.