Famed Las Vegas showmen Siegfried & Roy are the subjects of a new scripted series in development at Apple. Following the success of their podcast Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy, the company is adapting their audio show to explore their rise to stardom as masters of illusion and daring as well as their tragic downfall. John Hoffman, the co-creator of Hulu’s hit series Only Murders in the Building, has been tapped to write and executive produce the series.
The show aims to tell the story of Siegfried & Roy from a variety of perspectives, focusing on their ability to blend magic and reality and take illusion to its extremes. Made up of Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, the duo started off appearing on cruise ships and in nightclubs before becoming favorites in Las Vegas Known for their association with exotic animals, especially white tigers, they added an element of danger and excitement to their performances that made them stand out among the rest and become one of the greatest magician-showman acts to grace Sin City and beyond.
Despite their presence in pop culture, even appearing across television and film, they were enigmatic to many, being both beloved and heavily scrutinized especially when it came to their treatment of animals. The questions surrounding them only grew upon their tragic and fateful final show in Vegas. In 2003, Horn would suffer a bite to the neck by a tiger while also suffering a stroke, effectively ending his performing career. It would take him years to recover as both men retired to private life. The two would remain close friends until Horn’s death in 2020, with Fischbacher following soon after in 2021.
Alongside Steve Martin, Hoffman picked up a pair of Emmy nominations for his work on Only Murders, though he’s also known for writing several episodes of Netflix’s Grace & Frankie while also serving as a producer. He’ll be joined on the Wild Things series by a high-profile group of executive producers including Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns, and Kristen Zolner for Imagine Television alongside James Seidman. Also on board is the Wild Things podcast’s executive producer Will Manati and Steven Leckart for At Will Media.
Leckart created the original podcast with the intent to explore what happened with Siegfried & Roy surrounding the Tiger attack. He’d previously created and developed a number of documentaries surrounding larger-than-life figures and moments including What’s My Name: Muhammed Ali for HBO and Challenger: The Final Flight for Netflix.
We’ll have more here at Collider as we learn about the Siegfried & Roy series. The podcast Wild Things: Siegfried & Roy is currently available via Apple Podcasts.
