Helldivers Movie Eyes Reacher's Alan Ritchson as Its Star

Reacher star Alan Ritchson is reportedly in talks to star in PlayStation's upcoming Helldivers movie.

As reported by Deadline , the feature film adaptation of Arrowhead Game Studios' brutal multiplayer hit is zeroing in on a new lead after Aquaman actor Jason Momoa exited the project earlier this year. Ritchson is only said to be in talks for the unnamed Helldivers role so far, but Sony and director Justin Lin will want to move fast if they still want to hit their video game-to-movie adaptation's November 2027 drop date.

Ritchson has emerged as one of the more memorable action faces in the last decade. Although he's best known as the face of Prime Video's Reacher series, he's also shown up in Supergirl, Titans, and Fast X. Most recently, viewers may recognize him from his work in Netflix's War Machine or in this month's Owen Wilson movie, Runner.

Plot details for the Helldivers movie remain tightly under wraps as the crew tries to pin Ritchson behind the scenes. Sony announced plans to bring the battle for Super Earth to the big screen back in January 2025, and although things seemed to be progressing smoothly enough since, a few snags have kept it from landing.

For example, Lin, the director behind some The Fast and the Furious movies, boarded Helldivers in December of last year. Momoa then followed as Sony nailed down a release date in February of this year.

As much sense as it would make to see Momoa buzzing through Terminids and Automatons in the name of liberty, the DC and Game of Thrones star was said to have bailed on Helldivers in June. Why he departed the movie still remains unclear, though fans probably aren't too beaten up over the idea now that Ritchson could be the one to suit up.

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Helldivers is still careening toward its November 10, 2027, theatrical release date. While Sony and Ritchson hammer out the details, you can read about how Arrowhead is involved in the production and what its CEO had to say to the director .

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).