Why Alan Ritchson's New Action Movie War Machine Skipped A Theatrical Release After Strong 39.3M Views On Netflix

3 weeks ago 12

Alan Ritchson converses in a scene from War Machine

Published Mar 11, 2026, 4:39 PM EDT

Dan Zinski is a freelance scribe currently contributing to ScreenRant as a movie and TV news writer. He previously wrote for FanSided, The Viking Age and Lightly Buzzed.

Netflix and Lionsgate have a huge hit on their hands with Reacher star Alan Ritchson’ new sci-fi/action thriller War Machine.

The film has been so big in fact, racking up a reported 39.3 million views in its first few days on streaming, that one can only wonder how much money it could have made if released theatrically.

Addressing why the studio didn’t go the theatrical route with War Machine, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President Erin Westerman revealed recently that the original plan was to give the movie a big-screen roll-out, but explained why those plans were scuttled in exchange for a Netflix premiere (via The Wrap).

“Our intention was to make it theatrically,” Westerman said, “and then when our sales team went out to start conversations with the international buyers, the streaming market was just so frothy that we had a conversation with Todd Lieberman, our producing partner, with Alan Ritchson, our star, about the fact that this was a really viable option for it, and we all chose together to go to Netflix.”

Westerman went on to ensure that Lionsgate always aims to make movies fit for the big-screen, explaining why this approach helps keep the quality of their productions high, regardless of the platform on which they are finally released. “We develop for theatrical. And I think that’s ultimately why the quality has been so good and why the filmmakers feel so taken care of, because we’re all just in it together to make the best version of the movie and find the right home.”

War Machine’s massive Netflix numbers have sparked talk of a sequel, with both director Patrick Hughes and star Ritchson expressing high hopes that a follow-up will indeed happen.

Speaking recently to ScreenRant, War Machine director Hughes discussed sequel ideas, revealing that he’s already put in work conceiving a continuation to the story of Ritchson’s tough-as-nails drill sergeant 81. “When I sat down and wrote War Machine, I was like, this is a fully formed standalone story, and heaven forbid—touch wood—if I ever got the opportunity to take it further, I know exactly where it's going, and I've sketched it out.”

Ritchson echoed Hughes’ enthusiasm about expanding War Machine into a franchise, promising that War Machine 2 will be “sick,” while optimistically teasing “eight sequels.”

ScreenRant’s War Machine review calls the film “an action movie you feel in your body, and it mixes in the right dose of sci-fi VFX without losing sight of the character that keeps you caring.”

War Machine would perhaps have been an even more intense experience on the big-screen, but both Netflix and Lionsgate seem happy with how its streaming-only release has worked out.