George Kittle finally got his dinosaur role.
The San Francisco 49ers tight end and seven-time Pro Bowler will make his acting debut in Dinosaurs of the Wild West, the fan-funded frontier series from Primitive War director Luke Sparke.
And this is not some blink-and-you-miss-it cameo.
Kittle is getting an original character and his own dinosaur in the alternate 1879 setting, where civilization runs on prehistoric animals instead of horses and steam.
Sparke revealed the first wave of casting Thursday, with Deadline breaking the news.
Joining Kittle are Cobra Kai actor Jesse Kove in a villainous role, his father and Karate Kid legend Martin Kove as what the production calls an important figure in this version of America, and MythBusters Jr. star Rachael Pizzolatto as The Heiress.
The three main hero roles are still being cast, with auditions underway.
Kittle A Huge Fan Of The Dino-Verse
Kittle was not packaged into the project by an agency. He got the role because he was already a genuine fan of Sparke’s work.
This is also his second shot at joining the director’s growing Dino-verse.
Back in November, Kittle went viral after raving about Primitive War during a postgame press conference.
“Have you guys seen Primitive War? It’s a Vietnam War movie with dinosaurs in it!” Kittle told reporters.
Sparke saw the clip and reached out with an offer to appear in Primitive War 2.
That cameo never happened.
Kittle revealed in April that the Achilles injury he suffered during the 49ers’ playoff win over the Eagles kept him from traveling to the sequel’s set.
Instead of giving him a quick walk-on role where he probably gets eaten, Sparke came back with something bigger: a full original character in Dinosaurs of the Wild West.
Sparke said Kittle’s love of this kind of storytelling is “completely authentic,” and the receipts back him up.
The Trailer Has 20 Million Views
The timing of the casting announcement is no accident.
The Kickstarter campaign is entering its final stretch, with five days remaining, and pre-ordering is still the only way to watch the series.
The production says the trailer and teaser have generated more than 20 million views across its official channels. Kickstarter also named the campaign a Projects We Love selection, and the project is closing in on 60 percent of its goal.
The reach is already there. Now the focus is turning that attention into pre-orders before the campaign closes.
Sparke is leaning into that final push.
“We’re past the point of asking permission,” he said in the announcement, adding that the challenge now is “educating this new system” and converting those millions of views into pre-orders.
The Dinosaurs of the Wild West Kickstarter is live now.
