Netflix made it official today, War Machine is getting a sequel. Three months after Alan Ritchson’s sci-fi military thriller became one of the platform’s biggest hits ever, the streamer confirmed that War Machine 2 is now in development, with director Patrick Hughes already back on board and Ritchson expected to return as Candidate 81.
According to The Wrap, the creative team is already “heads down and getting busy on the sequel,” and Netflix itself confirmed the news on social media shortly after.
The first film, which debuted on Netflix on March 6, follows a combat engineer known only as “81”, Ritchson’s character, whose real name is never revealed on screen, leading an elite team of Army Rangers through the final stage of a brutal selection program.
What starts as a grueling training exercise in the wilderness turns into a full-blown survival nightmare when they come face to face with a massive extraterrestrial killing machine. Think Predator energy, but with even more muscle and a lot more bullets.
War Machine hit Netflix and immediately took over. In its first week alone it racked up 44.4 million views, debuted at number 1 in 87 countries including the United States, Mexico, Canada and Australia, and never really let go. By the time the numbers stopped climbing, the film had surpassed 139 million total views, landing it in the top 10 most popular original films in Netflix history. That’s not just a hit, that’s a franchise-maker.
Critically the reception was solid, if not unanimous. Rotten Tomatoes settled it around 65 to 69 percent, and outlets like Collider gave it a 6 out of 10, praising Ritchson’s performance and pointing to at least one genuinely great action sequence, while noting it doesn’t exactly reinvent the alien invasion genre. Fair enough. But audiences clearly didn’t care, they showed up, stayed, and kept coming back.
From one-and-done to full franchise
Patrick Hughes, who directed the original and is also known for The Hitman’s Bodyguard and The Expendables 3, will return to direct War Machine 2 and co-write the script alongside James Beaufort, the same writing partner from the first film. The producing team stays intact as well, with Todd Lieberman, Rich Cook, Greg McLean and Alex Young all returning.
What makes this sequel interesting is that Hughes originally had no plans for one. He admitted in an interview that he made the first film as a complete standalone, saying “I did genuinely make it and wrote it as a standalone.I was like, that’s cool as f**k, as if you did one-and-done, and just like, Damn, I’m out. Here’s War Machine.” But when the numbers came in, the decision became pretty obvious. His words now? He just wants to “keep the good times rolling.”
It helps that the film’s ending left things wide open. Without spoiling too much, War Machine closes in a way that strongly implies the world is far bigger than what we saw, and the alien threat is nowhere close to being resolved.
Hughes has said he has the broader story arc “exactly” mapped out, and Ritchson himself has referred to the potential saga as “War Machines”, plural, saying there is “tons” of story material ready to go.
What we know about War Machine 2 so far
As of today, the sequel is in very early pre-production. No cast has been officially confirmed beyond Ritchson’s expected return, and no plot details or release date have been announced. What is confirmed is that Hughes and Beaufort are writing, the core production team is back, and Netflix is clearly committed to building this into something bigger.
It’s also worth mentioning that Ritchson and Hughes aren’t just sitting around waiting for War Machine 2 to get going, the two are already deep into another project together, an untitled biopic about retired Navy SEAL Michael E. Thornton, which started filming in January 2026. The chemistry between them is real, and Netflix knows they have something special with this duo.
The first film featured a stacked supporting cast including Dennis Quaid as Sheridan, Stephan James as 7, Jai Courtney as Squad Leader, Esai Morales, Keiynan Lonsdale and Daniel Webber, among others. It was a co-production with Lionsgate, filmed largely in Australia with a budget estimated between 80 and 113 million dollars. Whether much of that ensemble returns for the sequel remains to be seen.
Ritchson, already one of the biggest action stars on streaming thanks to Reacher on Amazon, is cementing himself as a go-to lead for this kind of project. War Machine proved audiences will follow him anywhere, including into a fight against a giant alien death machine in the middle of nowhere. If the sequel can build on that foundation and expand the world Hughes clearly has planned, Netflix may have found its next big sci-fi franchise.
So, are you pumped for War Machine 2, or do you think the first one was lightning in a bottle? Let us know what you think in the comments!