The sci-fi action movie War Machine was an instant hit for the Netflix streaming service when it made its debut a few months ago, racking up 39.3 million views and 71.4 million hours viewed in its first week of release. The movie has now made its way onto the Netflix’s top 10 all-time Most Popular Films List, with 139 million views and counting… So it’s no surprise to hear, via The Wrap, that War Machine 2 is officially in development. Director Patrick Hughes will return to the helm, working from a screenplay he’s writing with James Beaufort. It’s highly likely that lead actor Alan Ritchson will also be back for the sequel, especially since Hughes and Ritchson have matching tattoos of the War Machine logo that Hughes designed.
What was War Machine about?
The logline reads: In the final 24 Hours of the world’s toughest selection process, a team of Army Rangers encounter a threat beyond their imagination. That threat was an otherworldly killing machine, and the film wrapped up with the revelation that a suspected asteroid was actually an army of alien machines that have started a global war with humankind… a strong foundation for a sequel to build on.
What has been said about the sequel?
Hughes told The Wrap, “God bless Netflix, because there was some internal back-and-forth and some creative conversations [about the ambiguity of the ending]. I really love those old school films you used to see in the ‘70s and ‘80s where it was like, ‘Dude you left me hanging. What?’ I said to Netflix, ‘I think more than anything, people want to know – What is [Ritchson’s] name? Where are they from? What do they want? What is happening? Because that micro to the macro, I think, is really interesting, because audiences get so attuned to going, ‘Okay, everything’s resolved in one movie.’ And I was like let’s treat this like what it is, which is f*cking shock-and-awe. And do we really think in the first 24 hours of us being hit by these, we’re going to know where they’re from, what they want and how to overcome them? No. This is like, just shock-and-awe.“
He promised that in the sequel, viewers will find out if the robotic attackers are the aliens themselves, if there was something piloting them from inside, or if there was something controlling them from a home world.
Hughes will be producing War Machine 2 with Todd Lieberman through Hidden Pictures, Range Media Partners’ Rich Cook, Greg McLean through Huge Film, and Alex Young for Hidden Pictures. Valerie Bleth Sharp will serve as an executive producer.
Are you glad to hear that War Machine 2 is in the works at Netflix? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed