Alan Ritchson carrying a wounded soldier in War Machine.
Filmmaker Patrick Hughes just revealed where he got the idea for his new sci-fi film War Machine, and it involves an actual nightmare he had. The Alan Ritchson-led Netflix movie War Machine follows a group of U.
S. Army Ranger recruits who are forced into survival mode when they come across a giant robot while undergoing a training exercise. In an interview with ScreenRant's Liam Crowley for War Machine, Hughes, who directed the film and co-wrote the script with James Beaufort, admitted that the origins of the story began when he directed his very first movie, 2010's Red Hill. There was a shootout scene being filmed in the middle of the night. It was snowing at the time, and the temperature was minus-seven degrees. The location manager came up to him and said that everyone had to"get off the street immediately." Hughes didn't understand what was going on since he had paid to film in that location. "It was horrifying. The first inspiration for War Machine came when I was shooting my first film, many moons ago. It's called Red Hill. We were shooting in High Country, Victoria. And we were shooting this shootout on the main street of town, at like 2:00 a.m. in the dead of winter—it was minus seven. There was literally snow everywhere. And we got told by the location manager that we had to get off the street immediately. And I was like, 'This is insanity because we paid for the location, there's no one there. It's literally a town with a population of 200 people.'" As this was unfolding, the filmmaker"saw this image" of 200 soldiers jogging with military trucks following behind them. He found the visual to be such a"stark image" and"highly cinematic." "We pulled all the gear off, and then just out of the dead of night, I saw this image. It was 200 soldiers. They all had numbers. They had these little headbands with a red dot, and they were fully kitted up with all their weaponry, jogging in dead silence followed by military trucks. And that was such a stark image. It was highly cinematic." Hughes later discovered that those soldiers were part of the selection program for the Australian SAS . He ended up going down a"rabbit hole of researching what it takes at tier-one operator levels, looking at their selection programs." That led him to research the Navy SEALs and the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program , which involves recruits undergoing rigorous training that's designed to test how well they can handle the most extreme physical and mental situations. RASP, according to Hughes, simulates a mission over the course of 24 hours, which he realized could be"potent ground for storytelling to explore a character where it wasn't about wanting to cross a finish line. It's like, I need to cross a finish line for my own salvation." "And I found out that that was the selection program for the Australian SAS. That really led me down a rabbit hole of researching what it takes at tier-one operator levels, looking at their selection programs. Then I looked at the Navy SEALs, and I got very deep into the Ranger Army selection program known as RASP, which has a definitive finish line at the end. They're all quite similar in the sense that they take the last 24 hours and they simulate a mission. I just felt that was potent ground for storytelling to explore a character where it wasn't about wanting to cross a finish line. It's like, I need to cross a finish line for my own salvation." The idea lingered in his head for several years, culminating in a nightmare he had in which he was being"stalked in a forest at night with rain and lightning by this giant machine with lasers." Hughes woke up"absolutely horrified in a cold sweat." That's when the filmmaker realized he had finally come up with a hook for War Machine, and he sat down to write the script. "That sort of just lingered in my head for quite a few years, and it wasn't until I had this nightmare. I was being stalked in a forest at night with rain and lightning by this giant machine with lasers, and I just woke up absolutely horrified in a cold sweat. And that's when I knew I'd found the hook for the narrative, and sat down and wrote War Machine." Aside from serving as director and co-screenwriter, Hughes, who previously directed The Expendables 3, The Hitman's Bodyguard and The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, also produced the film with Todd Lieberman and Alex Young. Ritchson has appeared in movies like The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Fast X. On the small screen, his credits include Smallville, Titans, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, and he's the star of the Prime Video series Reacher. His co-stars in War Machine are Quaid, Jai Courtney, Stephan James, Keiynan Lonsdale, Esai Morales, Jake Ryan, Daniel Webber, Jack Patten, Blake Richardson, Alex King, Jacob Patten, James Beaufort and Joshua Diaz. Hughes also appears in the film as Master Sergeant Hughes. Subscribe to our newsletter for filmmaker insights Want more behind-the-scenes film stories? Subscribe to the newsletter to explore director origins, nightmare-to-script moments, casting choices, stunt and effects breakdowns, and filmmaking craft that deepen your movie knowledge. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. War Machine currently has an 80% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers calling it action-packed, fun and engaging, with Ritchson being praised for delivering an electric performance as Staff Sergeant 81. 3.7/10 6/10 War Machine 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed MA 15+ Action Science Fiction Thriller Release Date March 6, 2026 Runtime 107 minutes Director Patrick Hughes Writers Patrick Hughes, James Beaufort Producers Todd Lieberman, Alexander Young, Patrick Hughes, Greg McLean, Rich Cook Cast See All A group of elite Army Ranger candidates faces the ultimate test during the final 24 hours of a grueling selection process, only to encounter a threat beyond their imagination.
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