Reacher star Alan Ritchson at a Wheel of Time event for Prime Video.Image via John Rainford/Cover Images
By
Chris McPherson
Published Feb 22, 2026, 8:00 PM EST
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Alan Ritchson's new Netflix action thriller is officially landing on March 6, 2026, and if Ritchson is to be believed, it’s about to be a very big deal. When the trailer was released, fans started comparing it to Predator, the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic that dropped soldiers into the jungle against an unstoppable alien hunter. Ritchson plays a combat engineer known only as “81,” named after his Ranger selection number. But behind the callsign is a man already carrying serious emotional weight, haunted by trauma from a Taliban attack that killed his brother.
The movie is War Machine, directed by Patrick Hughes, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Beaufort. Veteran action icon Dennis Quaid plays Sergeant Major Sheridan, one of the officers overseeing Ritchson's 81. Also starring are Jai Courtney, Esai Morales as another Army officer, with Stephan James, Keiynan Lonsdale, and Daniel Webber playing fellow Ranger candidates. Speaking in a previous interview with Wired, Ritchson delivered the hype.
“War Machine for Netflix [is coming soon.] I think, and you heard it here first, [it’s] probably gonna be the b— no, not probably. [It’s] gonna be the biggest movie that Netflix has ever had. This movie is gonna be a monster. This is the coolest thing they’ve ever made, guaranteed.”
What Can We Expect From 'War Machine'?
Reacher's Alan Ritchson stars in War Machine for NetflixImage via Netflix
As previously noted, the film was touted by Ritchson as Netflix’s “biggest movie ever,” and according to Courtney, the reasoning for that excitement is fully legitimate. He told Collider's Steve Weintraub, “I think that film is going to blow people away. It’s big. It’s a high concept. Alan [Ritchson]’s an absolute savage.” He went on to say:
“Pat [Patrick Hughes], I’ve been a fan of for a long time, and he’s become a good friend as well, and it was cool to go down there [to Victoria, Australia, where the film was shot]. What I really love about what he’s doing is he’s pulling these big, visionary action films into Australia and into the industry down there. I think it’s really healthy for the business down there, and it’s cool to see we have such world-class crews and locations.”
War Machine will premiere on Netflix on March 6, 2026.
War Machine
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Dennis Quaid
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Jai Courtney
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