‘Ordinary Angels’: Hilary Swank and Alan Ritchson to Star in True Story Feature!!

Hot off the success of Amazon Prime Video‘s Reacher, Alan Ritchson will star alongside Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) in Ordinary Angels, a film based on an inspiring true story. Per Deadline, Swank will star as a struggling hairdresser who rallies an entire Kentucky town to support a widowed father (Ritchson) and his severely ill daughter. Jon Gunn (The Unbreakable Boy, Do You Believe?) will direct the film.

Lionsgate will distribute Ordinary Angels, which is set up at Kingdom Story Company, a studio that is not a stranger to these kinds of stories. Aside from the upcoming The Unbreakable Boy, the studio has also overseen the recent American Underdog, which told the incredible story of NFL legend Kurt Warner. Last year also saw the release of their documentary The Jesus Music, which cataloged the history of contemporary Christian music. The Erwin Brothers, frequent collaborators of the studio and directors of American Underdog, will produce Ordinary Angels.

Producer Kevin Downes said the following about the story, as well as working with Swank and Ritchson to bring it to life:

“Kingdom Story Company endeavors to bring inspiring true stories to life on screen. ‘Ordinary Angels’ spotlights one family’s seemingly insurmountable struggles and the everyday people who helped them in remarkable ways. Hilary Swank and Alan Ritchson bring to life this heroic example of how one person can change a family and how that changes a community and gives rise, quite literally, to life and to hope.”

Ritchson is now seen by most audiences currently as the new face of Jack Reacher, with a second season of the action series recently being ordered by Amazon. Fans will also recognize him as the eponymous Thad Castle from Blue Mountain State, a role he reprised in the 2016 film sequel. He starred briefly in Titans as Hank Hall/Hawk, though his stint there ended as he committed to Reacher.

Two-time Academy Award winner Swank will perhaps bring a more dramatic side out of Ritchson. She most recently starred in the Netflix drama series Away, as well as Deon Taylor‘s thriller Fatale and the divisive satire The Hunt. Her award-winning work in Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don’t Cry is what most audiences will recognize her for, though she’s certainly proved her versatility and skill in acting beyond those roles. Namely, she starred in the ensemble of FX‘s criminally underrated series Trust, in which she portrayed the distraught and determined mother Gail Getty.