Taylor Kitsch will star in Netflix's upcoming Western miniseries American Primeval. The six-episode series will be executive-produced and directed by Pete Berg, and will be an exploration of 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 says of the series, "American Primeval is 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." Kitsch has collaborated with Berg a number of times, appearing in the Berg-produced TV series Friday Night Lights, and starred in his films Battleship and Lone Survivor.
Friday Night Lights, based on the movie of the same name that Berg also directed, starred Canadian actor Kitsch as Tim Riggins, and served as his breakout role; he seemed poised for movie stardom on the back of the critically-acclaimed series. However, his transition to film was a difficult one. He landed starring roles in a number of high-profile films, including X-Men Origins: Wolverine, John Carter, Battleship, and Oliver Stone's Savages, but they all floundered at the box office, with critics, or both. He also starred in the second season of HBO's True Detective, which was seen as a disappointment compared to its much-feted predecessor. More recently, he starred as cult leader David Koresh in Paramount's Waco miniseries, and in the Amazon thriller series The Terminal List. He will next appear in Painkiller, a Netflix limited series about the wealthy Sackler family and their role in the opioid crisis; Painkiller is also being directed by Berg. Berg is a prolific film director, frequently operating in the action genre; his films include The Rundown, The Kingdom, Hancock, and a litany of recent projects with Mark Wahlberg, including Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, and Spenser Confidential.
Berg will direct all six episodes of American Primeval, and will executive produce for Film 44, alongside Eric Newman (Narcos, The Watcher, Rebel Moon) for Grand Electric, and Mark L. Smith. Smith, who wrote the scripts for The Revenant, Overlord, and The Midnight Sky, will also write the series.
The rest of American Primeval's cast has yet to be revealed; stay tuned to Collider for future updates.