Netflix is about to drop a throwback-style action spectacle with a seriously creepy twist. War Machine, a new sci-fi action thriller arriving March 6, throws a squad of elite Army Ranger candidates into what should be a final training exercise — and turns it into a full-blown survival nightmare.
Leading the charge is Alan Ritchson, who plays a combat engineer known only as 81. The name comes from his Ranger selection number, but the weight he carries is much heavier than a callsign. Haunted by trauma from a Taliban attack that killed his brother, 81 is already on the edge before an otherworldly threat enters the battlefield.
“I have no interest in playing characters that feel at all invincible, safe, clean,” Ritchson said in an interview. Director Patrick Hughes even told him to approach the movie like horror to ground the chaos in real fear.
Ritchson said Hughes kept dropping the cast into extreme locations — mountain tops, violent rapids, and freezing waterfalls — and telling them to go for it. He even poked fun at those watching it on Netflix saying they’d actually want to put their phones down. Can you imagine?
“We made something so intense it’ll be hard to do that thing where you scroll on one device and half watch the other.”
Veteran action icon Dennis Quaid plays Sergeant Major Sheridan, one of the officers concerned about 81’s mental state during training. And if this feels like the kind of role Quaid would’ve played in the ’80s, that’s not a coincidence.
“I have more fun than I ever did when I was in my younger days,” Quaid said. He describes War Machine as “a big traditional American action movie, with a villain who is really kind of hard to describe.”
Also starring are Jai Courtney, Esai Morales as another Army officer, with Stephan James, Keiynan Lonsdale, and Daniel Webber playing fellow Ranger candidates.
Why Did Alan Ritchson Make ‘War Machine’?
Ritchson connected so deeply with the role that he tattooed “81” on his side before filming even began.
“I’ve got brothers. I’ve got sons. Doesn’t matter which direction I look at it, I understand well the lengths one would go to to protect and honor the ones I love. There is no limit on this side of life to how much I’d suffer for my family if it gave them even a second of relief. That’s 81 all day. He’s somebody I would always want by my side in battle, even if only metaphorically speaking. It’s cool to know there’s a part of him inside of me, but I hope people realize there’s a part of 81 in all of us.”
War Machine arrives on Netflix on March 6, 2026.
via Collider