Peter Berg and Taylor Kitsch have collaborated on several great projects in the past, like Friday Night Lights and the feature film Lone Survivor, and their latest — a gritty limited series about the 19th century American West — is about to hit Netflix.
American Primeval is a six-episode dramatization of the brutal western frontier of the US that debuts in January, and it will star Kitsch as “Isaac, a traumatized man struggling to overcome his demons.” Directed by Berg, the series is set in 1857 and sounds like it will be a much darker and violent version of something like Yellowstone. Importantly, this is also the second Netflix collaboration between Berg, Kitsch, and showrunner Eric Newman (Griselda, Narcos, The Watcher), who all previously worked together on 2023’s Painkiller.
In the new series, Netflix explains, “Up is down, pain is everywhere, and innocence and tranquility are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace — even fewer know compassion. There is no safe haven in these brutal lands, and only one goal matters: survival.
“American Primeval is a fictionalized dramatization and examination of the violent collision of culture, religion, and community as men and women fight and die to keep or control this land.”
Westerns like American Primeval, along with the newly released Australian series Territory, are definitely having something of a moment on the streaming giant. In terms of the former, it will depict characters including soldiers, settlers, trappers, bounty hunters, and tribal warriors. Sons of Anarchy‘s Kim Coates will portray Brigham Young, the leader of the Mormon Church, while Betty Gilpin will be on hand as a woman named Sara Rowell — described by Netflix as a mother seeking a guide across the frontier for her and her son.
Check out more first look images from American Primeval below.
