Alan Ritchson has quickly emerged in the 2020s as one of our great action TV stars with his leading role on Reacher, but with his new Netflix film and the reported follow-up, Ritchson could be taking Hollywood by storm as well. In an era where the term movie star doesn’t mean as much as it once did, we should cherish the ones we do have.
Alan Ritchson has quickly and quietly become one of our leading action stars with his fist-pumping performance as Jack Reacher in Prime Video’s Reacher and Anders Lassen in The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. For those who weren’t aware of Ritchson’s earlier roles, this action hero era feels perfectly appropriate.
Ritchson is a great actor with incredible physicality that perfectly suits him to these kinds of roles. However, if you first saw Ritchson as the neurotic, high-pitched, type-A Thad Castle in Blue Mountain State, this new era of the actor’s career is a hilarious but well-deserved development.
Now, Ritchson seems to have his eye on movies, appearing in the 2026 sci-fi action film, War Machine, as an unnamed Staff Sergeant in the US military simply called “81”. 81 and his squad are in Afghanistan when they are targeted by insurgents, resulting in the death of everyone save for 81.
Two years later, 81 decides to try out for a specialist unit, the dream of his brother who died in the attack. After gaining entrance to the group, 81 and the other specialists are pitted against a new type of weapon that they never expected to face. It’s a fast-paced, exciting war thriller, and the announcement of a sequel means Ritchson isn’t just an action franchise actor on TV but in movies now as well.
War Machine Is A Fun Romp
War Machine premiered on Netflix on March 6, 2026, after a limited theatrical release in Australia. Once the film hit Netflix, it was the number one movie globally for two weeks straight (via SMH). Australian director Patrick Hughes of The Hitman’s Bodyguard and The Expendables 3 teamed up with a lean cast to bring the film to audiences.
His and the actors’ efforts resulted in a fun, throwback action romp, the kind we don’t often get anymore. War Machine is filled with clunky character interactions and convenient plot contrivances, but it also has a lot of pizazz in its storytelling and some fantastic action set pieces that are well worth sticking around for.
Everything hangs on Ritchson’s performance, and he does as well as ever, showcasing not just his ability to competently take control of action sequences but also his strong charisma that makes even the more generic sci-fi thriller lines come out with more intensity and meaning.
When Is War Machine 2 Coming Out?
Alan Ritchson and Patrick Hughes were quick to say they would be interested in pursuing a sequel to War Machine (via Decider). Both actor and director said there were plenty more stories to explore, and if they were allowed to explore them, they would. Netflix then said they could in early June, officially green-lighting a sequel, War Machine 2.
Hughes said that he thinks the film will arrive sooner rather than later, but there is no official release date at this time. The director also said that the sequel could answer some of the lingering questions from the end of War Machine that imply things are much bigger than the characters could imagine.
- Release Date
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March 6, 2026
- Runtime
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107 minutes
- Director
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Patrick Hughes
- Writers
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Patrick Hughes, James Beaufort
- Producers
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Todd Lieberman, Alexander Young, Patrick Hughes, Greg McLean, Rich Cook