The Alan Ritchson action vehicle War Machine has found its battalion.
Dennis Quaid, currently starring in Reagan, The Piano Lesson star Stephan James, Jai Courtney, and Esai Morales have been enlisted into War Machine, a sci-fi action movie that Patrick Hughes (The Man from Toronto) is directing for Netflix.
Also on the call sheet are singer-turned-actor Blake Richardson, Keiynan Lonsdale (The Flash), and Daniel Webber (The Dirt).
The feature begins shooting in Australia this week and is being produced by Todd Lieberman and Alex Young of Hidden Pictures as well as Hughes via his banner, Huge Film.
The script, written by Hughes and James Beaufort, is set during the final 24 hours of the world’s toughest selection process and sees a team of Army Rangers encountering a threat beyond their imagination.
Ritchson is the lead Ranger candidate with James, Courtney, Richardson, Lonsdale, and Webber playing other aspirants who themselves in way over their heads. Quaid and Morales will play commanding officers.
Exec producing are Valerie Bleth Sharp, Rich Cook of Range Media Partners, Greg McLean of Huge Film.
Netflix acquired the project from Lionsgate, which was previously developing it.
Quaid is currently on screens portraying President Ronald Reagan in indie biopic Reagan. He is also appearing opposite Demi Moore in The Substance, the upcoming and buzzy horror movie that premiered at TIFF and is directed by Coralie Fargeat. The actor is repped by UTA and Brillstein Entertainment.
James is also appearing in movie that is the midst of a fall festival push. The actor is part of the cast of Piano Lesson, Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of the August Wilson play that hit Telluride and the Toronto Film Festival. He also appeared in Pamela Adlon’s comedy Babes and first gained notices for starring in If Beale Street Could Talk. James is repped by CAA and Range Media.
Courtney has plenty of action movie credits under his belt, ranging from Tom Cruise vehicle Reacher and Terminator Genisys to the comic book Suicide Squad movies. He is repped by UTA and Morrissey Management.
Morales played the mysterious villain in 2023’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning and will reprise the role for the second part of the adventure, hitting theaters in 2025. He is repped by Innovative Artists, LINK Entertainment and Vault Entertainment.
Blake Richardson, Keiynan Lonsdale, Daniel Webber
Johnny Diaz Nicolaidis; Oscar Leal; Hanna Lassen/Getty Images