Louis Theroux is making a Joe Exotic documentary sequel. Yes, really
Louis Theroux first introduced the world to Joe Exotic in 2011. (mrneilforsyth/Twitter)
Louis Theroux has confirmed that he is making a feature-length sequel documentary about Joe Exotic, star of the hit Netflix docuseries Tiger King.
Theroux’s new documentary, which is produced under the working title Louis Theroux: The Cult of Joe Exotic, will follow up on his 2011 film Louis Theroux: America’s Most Dangerous Pets.
The 90-minute special is set to air on BBC Two, although no date has yet been set, and will use unseen footage that was filmed for Theroux’s 2011 documentary alongside new interviews with those close to Exotic.
According to The Independent, Theroux said: “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.
“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.”
Louis Theroux introduced Joe Exotic to the world, nine years before Netflix’s Tiger King
Joe Exotic, a proud “gun-toting gay redneck”, polygamist who has had several concurrent husbands and the self-proclaimed king of the shady exotic animal underworld, was first introduced to the world by Louis Theroux in 2011.
But in 2020, Exotic became a global sensation with the release of Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness, which detailed his rivalry with arch-nemesis and Big Cat Rescue owner Carole Baskin, a feud that culminated in Exotic’s imprisonment for trying to have her killed.
Theroux previously admitted that he binge-watched the series, but said that while he “greatly enjoyed” it, he was left with a “sense of envy and missed opportunity that [he] wasn’t involved in what has turned out to be a global smash”.
