War Machine on Netflix: Alan Ritchson's Sci-Fi Action Thriller Hits No. 1 in 92 Countries With 39.3 Million Views
Alan Ritchson just conquered a second streaming platform. His new Netflix film War Machine debuted March 6 and within days became the most-watched movie on the platform globally — a performance that puts him in rare company and has already fueled sequel conversations.
The Numbers
War Machine was the most-watched title on Netflix during the week of March 2–8, debuting with 39.3 million views in just three days. That translates to 71.4 million hours watched globally, making it the second biggest Netflix movie opening of 2026 so far.
As of March 10, the film ranked No. 1 in 92 of 93 countries tracked by FlixPatrol. It knocked Scarlett Johansson's Jurassic World Rebirth from the top of the U.S. chart and has not given the spot back.
What the Movie Is
War Machine starts like a stereotypical military film, then warps into something considerably weirder about a third of the way through. Ritchson plays a combat engineer identified only as 81 — Ranger trainees are assigned numbers throughout the selection process — who enters the Army Ranger Selection and Assessment Program two years after losing his brother in Afghanistan.
During what should be the final training exercise, the unit encounters a crashed extraterrestrial machine and the survival story pivots hard into alien-invasion territory. The film's closing act reveals the threat is far larger than one encounter: thousands more machines are heading toward Earth, and a wider military response called Operation Global Shield is already underway. That ending functions as franchise architecture even without a confirmed sequel.
Ritchson's Performance — and the Physical Cost
Director Patrick Hughes shot the film in Victoria, Australia and Queenstown, New Zealand between September and December 2024. Ritchson told The Hollywood Reporter it was the most he had ever been pushed physically, and that he doubted his own ability to finish. The two got matching tattoos after wrapping — along with producer Rich Cook — featuring one of the film's early logos.
At 6'3" and built for the role, Ritchson carries the film's emotional and action weight largely alone, and critics acknowledged he pulls it off. Collider's Aidan Kelley credited him with "a consistently great performance." Esai Morales and Dennis Quaid appear as Academy commanders but only briefly.
Mixed Reviews, Massive Audience
The critical reception landed in qualified-positive territory. War Machine holds a 69% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 45 critics and a 54 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. The film draws clear comparisons to John McTiernan's Predator — soldiers facing an alien threat in dense wilderness — though critics noted it lacks that film's charisma and excess.
Audiences disagreed with the more skeptical reviews. Audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes sit at 73%, and word of mouth helped sustain the chart position through the opening weekend.
Sequel Plans Already Drawn Up
Both Hughes and Ritchson confirmed after release that plans for future installments had already been developed, with Ritchson stating that "tons" of sequel material exists and that a follow-up informally called War Machines had been fully mapped out. Hughes said he had "sketched out" a broader narrative arc for the character while writing the first film.
As of March 10, Netflix has not issued an official greenlight for a sequel. With 39.3 million opening views, the platform has every reason to move quickly.
