It's The End Of An Era For Alan Ritchson's Netflix Sci-Fi Movie With 15.2B Minutes Viewed

Published Jul 29, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT Cooper Hood is the Associate Editor for all new movie releases, in theaters and on streaming. In addition to writing articles about these titles and upcoming releases, he also oversees content planning for each, ensuring that ScreenRant continues to cover major releases for months after their release. He has written various reviews for ScreenRant that appear on Rotten Tomatoes, coordinated Oscars and San Diego Comic-Con coverage, appeared on CNN to talk about Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, and done select interviews with talent over the years. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Alan Ritchson gave Netflix a massive smash hit with his sci-fi war movie, War Machine, once it hit the streamer earlier this year. The movie put Ritchson in an action-lead role as the unnamed soldier, only referred to as 81, who finds himself fighting off an alien invasion when his final step of training for a special unit is interrupted by giant mechs attacking humanity. War Machine received generally positive reviews, sitting at 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. The public proved to be very interested in it, even if it only scored a 63% with audiences. The movie, which is essentially Ritchson's version of Predator, immediately shot to the top of Netflix's daily and weekly charts after launching on March 6. Netflix reported an impressive 39.3 million views in its first three days of release, amassing 71.4 million hours watched. From that point forward, War Machine was a viewership juggernaut for Netflix. It would up spending eight weeks in Netflix's weekly top 10 charts, staying in the top 5 spots for the first five weeks. Over its first 91 days of release, Netflix revealed War Machine earned 139.9 million views, which is good enough to be one of the streamer's 10 most viewed movies in history. It also easily allowed Ritchson's movie to become Netflix's most-watched 2026 original movie. High Octane · No Brakes How Well Do You Know Action Movies? “Yippee-ki-yay… let’s see what you’ve got.” 💥ExplosionsWalk away, don’t look back 🏎Car ChasesFloor it 🥊Fist FightsNo mercy 🚁StuntsGet to the chopper 🔥MayhemBurn it all down LOCK AND LOAD → 01 In the 1988 classic Die Hard, NYPD cop John McClane spends Christmas Eve picking off Hans Gruber’s heavily armed crew one by one inside a single Los Angeles high-rise. What is the name of that skyscraper? ANakatomi Plaza BFox Tower CCentury City Tower DPacific Heights ✓ Direct hit! Nakatomi Plaza — the headquarters of the fictional Nakatomi Corporation where McClane (Bruce Willis) is trapped. It was filmed in the real Fox Plaza in Century City, which was still under construction at the time. McClane’s barefoot dash across broken glass remains one of the genre’s defining moments. ✗ Missed! The answer is Nakatomi Plaza. The film was shot in the real Fox Plaza in Century City (then Fox’s own HQ), which is likely why “Fox Tower” sounds plausible — but on screen it’s the fictional Nakatomi Plaza where Hans Gruber’s crew holds the Christmas party hostage. NEXT → 02 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) introduced the shape-shifting T-1000, a groundbreaking villain that could melt, reform, and morph into anyone. What futuristic material is the T-1000 made of? ATitanium alloy BCarbon nanofiber CLiquid metal DReinforced ceramic ✓ Direct hit! The T-1000 is made of “mimetic poly-alloy” — essentially liquid metal — letting it flow through bars, sprout blades, and impersonate its victims. Robert Patrick’s eerily calm performance and the era-defining morphing CGI made it cinema’s scariest robot. The T-800 (Arnold), by contrast, is metal under living tissue. ✗ Missed! The answer is liquid metal (“mimetic poly-alloy”). That’s what lets the T-1000 pour through prison bars, reform from a shattered frozen state, and mimic anyone it touches. The older T-800 played by Arnold is the one with a hard metal endoskeleton under flesh — the T-1000 is a whole new threat. NEXT → 03 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) was a near-non-stop desert car chase praised for its practical stunts, winning six Oscars. Which director returned to the franchise he created decades earlier to make it? AZack Snyder BGeorge Miller CDenis Villeneuve DKathryn Bigelow ✓ Direct hit! George Miller created Mad Max with Mel Gibson back in 1979 and returned 36 years later to direct Fury Road, with Tom Hardy as Max and Charlize Theron as Furiosa. The film leaned on real vehicles and stunts in the Namibian desert. Snyder, Villeneuve, and Bigelow are all acclaimed — but the Wasteland belongs to Miller. ✗ Missed! The answer is George Miller — the Australian filmmaker (and former doctor) who launched the series in 1979 and came back to direct Fury Road. Zack Snyder, Denis Villeneuve, and Kathryn Bigelow are all major action/sci-fi directors, but none made Mad Max. NEXT → 04 In John Wick (2014), Keanu Reeves plays a retired hitman pulled back into a brutal underworld war after Russian gangsters break into his home. What act ignites his legendary rampage of revenge? AThey kill his dog BThey kidnap his daughter CThey steal his gold DThey torch his house ✓ Direct hit! They kill his dog — a beagle puppy named Daisy, a final gift from his late wife — and steal his vintage Mustang. That cruelty unleashes “Baba Yaga,” the boogeyman hitman, on the entire criminal underworld. The deceptively simple revenge hook launched one of modern action’s biggest franchises. ✗ Missed! The answer is they kill his dog. The puppy, Daisy, was the last gift from John’s dying wife — so when Iosef’s crew beats John and kills the dog (also stealing his car), it triggers the full “Baba Yaga” rampage. It’s the purest revenge setup in modern action cinema. NEXT → 05 The Mission: Impossible franchise is famous for its star performing his own death-defying stunts — scaling the Burj Khalifa, clinging to a plane at takeoff, and a HALO jump. Who plays super-spy Ethan Hunt? AMatt Damon BKeanu Reeves CJason Statham DTom Cruise ✓ Direct hit! Tom Cruise has played Ethan Hunt since 1996, famously insisting on doing his own stunts — hanging off the Burj Khalifa, strapped to an Airbus A400M, and performing a real HALO skydive. Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, Keanu is John Wick, and Statham headlines the Transporter and Expendables films. ✗ Missed! The answer is Tom Cruise. Matt Damon plays a different super-spy (Jason Bourne), Keanu Reeves is John Wick, and Jason Statham has his own action stable. Cruise’s real, no-CGI stunt work — the plane, the building, the skydive — is the M:I series’ signature. NEXT → 06 In The Matrix (1999), Morpheus offers Neo a choice between two pills: one returns him to blissful ignorance, the other reveals the harsh truth of reality. Which pill does Neo swallow to wake up? AThe blue pill BThe red pill CThe green pill DThe black pill ✓ Direct hit! Neo takes the red pill to learn the truth — that humanity is enslaved in a simulation by machines. The blue pill would have let him wake up in bed believing “whatever you want to believe.” “Taking the red pill” has since become a permanent piece of pop-culture shorthand. ✗ Missed! The answer is the red pill. Morpheus’ line is the key: the blue pill ends the story safely in bed, but the red pill shows “how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Neo chooses red, unplugs from the Matrix, and the phrase has outlived the film as a cultural metaphor. NEXT → 07 Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) won Best Picture and gave us the roaring line “Are you not entertained?!” Which actor took home the Best Actor Oscar for playing the betrayed general-turned-gladiator Maximus? AGerard Butler BMel Gibson CRussell Crowe DBrad Pitt ✓ Direct hit! Russell Crowe won the 2001 Best Actor Oscar as Maximus Decimus Meridius, the Roman general enslaved and forced to fight for his freedom — and his revenge on the emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Gerard Butler later anchored 300, but the sands of the Colosseum belong to Crowe. ✗ Missed! The answer is Russell Crowe, who won Best Actor for Maximus. Gerard Butler led the similar-spirited 300, Mel Gibson made Braveheart, and Brad Pitt fought at Troy — all sword-and-sandal adjacent, but Gladiator’s Maximus is Crowe. NEXT → 08 The Fast & Furious saga grew from a street-racing crime film into a globe-trotting blockbuster series obsessed with “family.” Vin Diesel anchors it as the gravel-voiced crew leader — what is the character’s name? ADominic Toretto BBrian O’Conner CLuke Hobbs DHan Lue ✓ Direct hit! Vin Diesel plays Dominic “Dom” Toretto, the loyalty-obsessed leader whose mantra is family. Brian O’Conner was the late Paul Walker’s undercover-cop-turned-ally, Luke Hobbs is Dwayne Johnson’s lawman, and Han Lue (Sung Kang) is the snack-loving fan favorite. But the wheel belongs to Dom. ✗ Missed! The answer is Dominic Toretto. Brian O’Conner is Paul Walker’s character, Luke Hobbs is Dwayne Johnson’s, and Han Lue is Sung Kang’s. Vin Diesel’s Dom — and his relentless “family” speeches — has been the heart of the franchise since 2001. REVEAL MY SCORE → Mission Complete · Stand Down Your Action Hero Rank 💥 / 8 One-man army — or first to get caught in the crossfire? ⤴ RELOAD However, that run is now over. War Machine has officially been dethroned, as Swapped moves to No. 1 on the year with 143.2 million views. Ritchson's sci-fi movie now holds down the No. 2 spot on the 2026 charts. But despite this fall from the top, War Machine remains a massive win for Netflix. War Machine Is Still One Of Netflix's Biggest 2026 Success Stories Via MovieStillsDB War Machine might not be able to say it is Netflix's No. 1 movie of 2026 anymore, but everyone involved with the movie still has plenty of reasons to celebrate. Its second-place standing is still very impressive. War Machine still holds the record among Netflix's 2026 movies for best week 2 viewership, where it got 44.4 million views. It also saw staggeringly low drops in weeks 7 and 8. Overall, Netflix has even reported that interest in War Machine sustained beyond the 91 days the streamer counts toward all-time records. The movie finished the first half of 2026 with 147 million views, meaning it still has more views than Swapped overall on the year. Its total now is at least 150.2 million views, with War Machine re-entering the weekly top 10 chart for July 20–July 26. As mentioned, War Machine also still holds a place in Netflix's top 10 all-time most-watched movies list, too. Granted it is barely holding onto that claim after being passed by Swapped, knocking it down to No. 10 overall. It's unclear how long War Machine will be able to hold onto that spot, but even if it falls out, these viewership numbers are still better than Netflix ever could've hoped for. War Machine might have been exclusively released on Netflix, but it is not one of the movies that the streamer directly produced. Netflix acquired the sci-fi blockbuster after Lionsgate changed course on giving it a theatrical release. The numbers clearly show that Netflix was right to take a swing with War Machine, and they'll continue to reap the rewards of it for years to come. War Machine Remains Netflix's Only New Franchise Starter Ben King/Netflix Rather than let this movie exist as a single, standalone success story, Netflix believes that these numbers are replicable. That's why Netflix confirmed development on a War Machine sequel after it officially earned a place in the top 10 all-time charts. Even though Swapped has now surpassed it and the streamer has had other strong performers, War Machine remains alone among Netflix's 2026 originals when it comes to starting a franchise. Ritchson will return to star as 81 in the sequel, which is currently being developed by writer/director Patrick Hughes. There is no timetable for when War Machine 2 will release on Netflix, but the movie is moving along quickly. Hughes has hinted that a screenplay by him and James Beaufort is already completed. He even confirmed that the sequel will be titled War Machines, taking a page out of Aliens' playbook. It appears that everyone involved is working to get Ritchson's 81 back in front of the camera and fighting alien mechs once more. They are looking to strike while the iron is hot with this new property and avoid long gaps that have sometimes come between Netflix sequels. It's an understandable approach given the first movie's popularity, especially since Hughes told ScreenRant exclusively before the first film even came out that the second installment was fully mapped out. War Machine's Massive Viewership Puts More Pressure On The Sequel Ben King/Netflix © 2026. The fast development is surely being done so that War Machines has the best chance possible to achieve the same level of success as the first movie. Whether the sequel can match War Machine's viewership figures remains to be seen. But that hope gives the follow-up a completely different set of expectations from the original. Lionsgate and Netflix certainly had some belief that War Machine could connect with viewers. After all, it is made in a similar framework as many other successful streaming movies: an action-heavy genre movie with a recognizable streaming star and a rather simple plot so viewers won't get lost if at-home distractions emerge. But it's unlikely either party expected record-breaking viewership numbers. War Machines will be compared against these figures. Hollywood typically wants sequels to do even better than their predecessors, which will be no small task in this case. If the sequel gets a more substantial marketing push from Netflix, gains more stars, and ups the spectacle, it won't be impossible. But if the next entry falls shy of War Machine's performance, there will be some who look at it as a disappointment. Netflix sequels can sometimes struggle to duplicate strong viewership results, as most of the streamer's movies find short-term popularity instead of sustained relevance. Hopefully, War Machines will not follow suit and wind up becoming an equally massive hit for Netflix. That would go to show that War Machine's impressive viewing data was no fluke and enable Ritchson to keep returning as 81 for additional installments that potentially perform better with each entry. 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