Taylor Kitsch has signed on to star in American Primeval, an upcoming western miniseries in development at Netflix. The show will run for six episodes with Peter Berg (Deepwater Horizon) serving as producer and director.
The series will explore the birth of the American West, focusing on the desperate men and women who journey to a lawless, hostile land and shape it to their wills. Kitsch will play Isaac, a man dealing with deep-rooted trauma and personal demons who ventures west in search of a reason to live.
Netflix VP Peter Friedlander called the series “a portrait of the American West unlike any other – raw, thrilling, action-driven and brought to life by a tapestry of emotionally compelling characters led by the talented Taylor Kitsch.”
Berg and Kitsch have worked together previously on 2013 action film Lone Survivor, while Berg’s 2004 film Friday Night Lights was turned into a TV series of the same name that led to Kitsch’s breakout role. They have also already collaborated together for Netflix, with Kitsch starring in the Berg-directed series Painkiller, which has completed filming but has yet to debut.
Berg will also executive produce American Primeval for Film 44 alongside Eric Newman for Grand Electric, who has worked on various other Netflix projects such as Narcos and The Watcher. Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) will pen the script.
American Primeval might be Netflix’s attempt to lure the audience of Yellowstone, the neo-western series that’s currently one of the most popular shows in the United States.
Unfortunately for them, that show already has at least four spinoffs in development, with one of them, 1923 starring Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, set to premiere on Paramount+ this month.
There’s no word yet on when Painkiller, Berg and Kitsch’s other Netflix collaboration (that also stars Uzo Aduba and Matthew Broderick) will debut, but insiders say it could still be before the end of the year.
#Peace.Love.AmericanPrimeval
