Netflix reveals new season of 'Tiger King' is 'coming soon'

The streaming platform has updated the show's synopsis page to let viewers know there is more on the way

'Tiger King' was one of the most popular Netflix shows of 2020. AFP / Netflix

Almost 18 months since Tiger King became the world’s lockdown obsession, Netflix has announced that season two of the documentary series is “coming soon”.

The show, which follows the lives of eccentric zookeeper Joe Exotic and his rival big cat centre owner Carole Baskin, was released in March 2020. It became one of the streaming service’s most-talked-about shows, thanks to its outrageous tales and colourful characters, and was watched 34 million times in only 10 days.

While Netflix is yet to reveal much about what the follow-up season to the docuseries will entail, it has updated the show’s synopsis page with a “coming soon” banner, alerting viewers that more Tiger King content is on the way.

However, we do know that Joe Exotic – real name Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage – is now in prison after being convicted of plotting murder-for-hire against his nemesis Baskin, as well as a string of wildlife crimes. He has served two years of his 22-year sentence and has made a number of unsuccessful bids for parole.

It is unclear whether he will feature in the new season of the Netflix show.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year, one of the show’s directors, Rebecca Chaiklin, hinted at what might be included in any future series.

“We have a crazy amount of footage and it’s a story that’s still unfolding,” she said. “We’re not sure yet, but there could be a follow-up on this story because there’s a lot that’s still unfolding in it, and it’ll be just as dramatic and just as colourful as what has unfolded these past few years.”

Netflix is not the only streaming service to want to revisit the Tiger King story. Amazon Prime Video initially wanted to turn the docuseries into a drama series starring Nicolas Cage as Joe Exotic. However, in July, Cage said he was no longer involved in the project, revealing that it had been shelved by Amazon.

“We should clear the record,” Cage told Variety. “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. 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.”

While the Amazon series may be shelved, it is not the only other project about Joe Exotic. Another television series based on a podcast about the Tiger King story is being made by streaming platform Peacock, with Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell reportedly on board.