Alan Ritchson's sci-fi thriller War Machine has reached the top of Netflix's charts, with 147 million views in its first few weeks of availability.
Four months after its release on Netflix, Alan Ritchson's popular sci-fi thriller War Machine has become the platform's #1 movie of 2026. Following his action-driven outings in Motor City and Playdate last year, Ritchson kept his streak in the genre going this past March with War Machine.
The science fiction movie sees the actor playing a Staff Sergeant known only as 81, who finds himself battling a killing machine that crash-lands from outer space. War Machine quickly became a hit on Netflix during its first few weeks of availability, and now it's officially the streaming service's biggest movie in the first half of the year. Netflix announced that War Machine achieved this accomplishment by collecting 147 million views.
Within the action film slate, the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon-led The Rip came in second place with 136 million views, and Apex, starring Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton, scored third place with 129 million views. Other Netflix original movies released in 2026 that have performed well include Swapped (131 million views), People We Meet on Vacation (78 million views), Remarkably Bright Creatures (51 million views), Office Romance (58 million views) and Voicemails for Isabelle (53 million views).
Ritchson's co-stars in the brutal sci-fi action epic War Machine include Blake Richardson, Keiynan Lonsdale, Daniel Webber, Jai Courtney, Esai Morales, Stephan James, Alex King, Jack Patten, and Dennis Quaid. Patrick Hughes directed the movie, as well as co-wrote the script with James Beaufort. Ahead of its Netflix debut on March 6, War Machine received a limited theatrical release in Australia starting on February 12.
Though War Machine has been viewed by so many people around the world, its overall critical reception has been mixed. ScreenRant's review of War Machine rated it six out of ten stars, saying that this is 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.
On Rotten Tomatoes, it rests at a 66% Tomatometer among professional reviewers, and a 64% Popcornmeter among audience ratings. Mixed reception aside, War Machine's staggering early viewership success has reportedly resulted in Netflix developing War Machine 2, with Hughes returning to direct. This hasn't been officially confirmed, though War Machine's ending certainly laid the groundwork for a follow-up.
After discovering the title antagonist's weakness and destroying it, Ritchson's 86 passed along his discovery to the United States military just as an army of these machines ignited a war across Earth. Whether or not another War Machine movie is actually happening, the public still has a lot to look forward to from Ritchson in 2026.
He'll next be seen reprising action hero Jack Reacher in Prime Video's Reacher season 4, which begins on August 12, and he'll also guest star in the spinoff Neagley, which premieres September 20 on the same platform. Additionally, Ritchson is starring in the movies Runner and The Man with the Bag, with the former hitting theaters on September 11, and the latter arriving on Prime Video December 2
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