How American Primeval is similar to Red Dead Redemption and why the latter deserves a TV adaptation, explored

American Primeval is a limited series released recently on Netflix. The show chronicles the brutal events leading up to the bloody Utah Wars and is created by Mark L. Smith and Peter Berg. The Netflix show stands out owing to its violent portrayals, which often border on gore, of actual historical conflicts between early pioneers, cultists and the indigenous tribes of the American Wild West in the 1850s.

The success of American Primeval has led many to compare the series with another intellectual property that harbours heavily on the Wild West — the Red Dead Redemption game franchise. Red Dead Redemption comes from the house of Rockstar Games, renowned globally for their open world gameplay and for the iconic Grand Theft Auto series of games.

The genesis of Red Dead Redemption could be traced back to the 2003 game title of Red Dead Revolver. Till date, the franchise has released two iterations namely, Red Dead Redemption in 2010 and it's followup prequel Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018.

There are several similarities between American Primeval and Red Dead Redemption, namely the fate of its protagonists caught in the crossfire between rebel forces and the government, and the rugged Wild West terrain. Here's everything we know:

---

American Primeval and Red Dead Redemption: Similarities and differences explored

There are certain striking similarities between the Netflix show American Primeval and Red Dead Redemption (RDR). Both of the titles are about the trials and tribulations faced by their protagonists in a desperate bid for survival. Indeed, the characters of Arthur Morgan and John Marston from the RDR franchise are survivalists trying to escape unscathed from all the violence that erupts around them, essentially similar to Taylor Kitsch's Isaac Reed in the Netflix show.

The show and the game transpire across a hostile landscape that can be described best as the frontier of civilization. This is a place where the law isn't pervasive and the inhabitants are used to taking the law in their own hands. It is worth noting that in terms of its gameplay, the RDR franchise comes closer to the best of Western films than it does to any other video game, owing to its complex characters, rich sub-plots and cinematic cutscenes.

A chief distinction between the two is the fact that American Primeval's use of violence often borders on gore and horror, while the RDR uses violence chiefly for narrative needs and as a means to an end.

---

Rockstar Games' co-founder opens up about a Red Dead Redemption screen adaptation

Dan Houser is the co-founder, VP creativity, and the head writer at Rockstar Games. While speaking in an interview with The Ankler, Houser mentioned that they have had film adaptation offers in the past but none of them turned out to be worthwhile. He mentioned:

"After a few awkward dates, we’d ask (the executives), why would we do this? And we'd be like, no, what you've described is you making a movie and us having no control and taking a huge risk that we’re going to end up paying for with something that belongs to us."

He added:

"They thought we’d be blinded by the lights and that just wasn't the case. We had what we considered to be multi-billion-dollar IP, and the economics never made sense. The risk never made sense. In those days, the perception was that games made poor-quality movies. It's a different time now."

American Primeval is exclusively available on Netflix.