What Dinosaurs Of The Wild West Means For Primitive War 2 [Exclusive]
Director Luke Sparke is quickly becoming the indie alternative to the "Jurassic World" franchise. He made that very clear with the release of last year's "Primitive War," a movie that was rejected by Hollywood but Sparke made anyway. Now, he is back with a new, different dinosaur project in the form of a series titled "Dinosaurs of the Wild West," which is exactly what it sounds like: dinosaurs and humans together in the old West. But what does this show mean for the next "Primitive War" film?
Recall that Sparke had already announced "Primitive War 2" prior to launching a Kickstarter campaign for "Dinosaurs of the Wild West." So, what's going on with the sequel? I recently had the good fortune of speaking with the director in honor of the launch of the Kickstarter, and he addressed how the two projects will impact one another:
"'Primitive War 2' is, again, just like any feature film. It's still a lot to work out and which script we're going to go with, and distribution, and how that works in this market that continues to shrink and shrink and shrink. Basically, we've talked before about pre-sales and how usual distribution works. Basically, in my opinion, international pre-sales have just bottomed off a cliff, which makes it very difficult for a film to cobble together things without screwing over the filmmaker."
"I did that on 'Primitive War,' so I'm trying to make sure we do the next one in a different way or find a different way to do it," Sparke added. "It's still a priority, and it's also the actors' timelines and who I would like to cast and who's available and all that kind of stuff."
Primitive War 2 and Dinosaurs of the Wild West can co-exist
"Dinosaurs of the Wild West" released a full-length trailer to coincide with the launch of its Kickstarter. It looks very ambitious, but it's also dependent on funding via the fans. Speaking a bit further, Luke Sparke made it clear that he doesn't want to rush anything and established a rough timeline for when the "Primitive War" sequel might happen:
"I would hate to just rush 'Primitive War 2' in. And there was a time this year that we were about to go on 'Primitive War 2' on one of the scripts, and then we were like, 'Are we just doing it to do it? Are all the pieces right? Should we wait for the right moment?' So, again, there's all those conversations that happen every day. So, it's definitely very close. It's sitting right there, and I'd love to do it this year to release it next year or early 2028, is kind of the plan."
"Luckily, our team's expanding and we can handle both at the same time," Sparke added, making it clear that "Primitive War 2" and "Dinosaurs of the Wild West" could happen simultaneously. That would make Sparke a very busy man, but he's nothing if not up for a challenge. The budget for "Primitive War" was shockingly low, yet he managed to deliver a blockbuster-scale spectacle for pennies on the dollar.
That does mean that Sparke would be stretched a little thin, but it's also one of those "get while the gettin' is good" situations. If momentum can carry both of these projects forward at the same time, then a filmmaker working outside of the Hollywood system such as Sparke has gotta make the most of the opportunity.
Dinosaurs of the Wild West and Primitive War are very different from one another
Luke Sparke also said that he and his collaborators have developed multiple scripts for potential "Primitive War" sequels, which he hopes can help expedite the process of turning this into a full-fledged franchise, assuming the demand is there. Producers are facing a lot of unique challenges making movies today, so Sparke is attempting to find unique solutions to those problems.
As for "Dinosaurs of the Wild West," he explained that it differs from "Primitive War" in some key ways. On top of having a larger and more expansive story that will unfold across multiple episodes (rather than a single movie), the two are mainly different in terms of their tone. As Sparke revealed:
"This one, I won't say it's family friendly because it's definitely still adult entertainment, but I think kids could be much more interested in this one than, say, 'Primitive War' [...] So, this one's much more accessible for everyone without being too ridiculously kiddy. And the fact that the dinosaurs are in the world, that's been there forever, and you have this almost like 'How to Train Your Dragon' type feel where these guys are riding raptors and they have a connection with them. It very much harkens back to 'Dino-Riders' of the '80s as well."
The initial goal for the "Dinosaurs of the Wild West" Kickstarter is to produce the first two episodes of the series, but more will happen if the stretch goals are met. Sparke is also billing this as an "original cinematic universe," with other installments planned if this one goes well. And again, none of this will come at the expense of the larger "Primitive War" franchise, either.