Motor City first look: Alan Ritchson and Shailene Woodley star in gritty 1970s revenge film

Reacher star Alan Ritchson is pumping up again, but this time for Motor City, a film set in the '70s where he will be framed for a crime he didn't commit. Deadline recently gave us a 55-second footage where he is being subdued by police officers, but there's no dialogue in it.

Actually, there's only a little dialogue in the film: five lines, to be precise. Other than him, Ben Foster, Shailene Woodley, Pablo Schreiber, and more are in this $30 million indie film. Foster told Deadline that it isn't a silent film; he said,

"This is not a silent film. There are about five lines of dialogue. If we think about what makes us human, it’s behaviour and how we behave with each other. So it was a fun challenge to tell a story without telling the story in a traditional manner. We were able to relate physically as actors."

According to its synopsis (via IMDb),

"In 1970s Detroit, MILLER falls in love with a local gangster's girl. In retaliation, the gangster enacts a frame job to send the innocent man to prison. Life ruined, Miller plots a revenge campaign against the man who took his girl away."

As of now, there's no release date for the movie but it will be premiered at the 82nd annual Venice International Film Festival today.

Potsy Ponciroli is directing the film; he has directed a couple of movies before. His feature film debut came in 2021 with Old Henry (2021), where Tim Blake Nelson was in the lead, and which was a critical hit. His other movie, Greedy People (2024), was a mild success.

What's in the Motor City footage?

Alan Ritchson in Reacher. (Image via Prime Video)

The Deadline footage of Motor City is a 55-second drama full of emotions where Alan Ritchson's John Miller is just trying to break free from the cops while screaming, which is hidden behind a soundtrack, while his love Sophia (Woodley) is in a car, watching her lover being subdued by cops. That's all there is in it.

Alan Ritchson's upcoming projects

Alan Ritchson in Blue Mountain State (Image via YouTube/Paramount Network)

Other than Motor City, the Reacher star is a part of four more films, all in post-production as of this writing.

There's The Man with the Bag, a Christmas comedy film where he teamed up with the iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will be playing Santa Claus. Santa needs help and gets it from a petty thief to get back his sack of presents in the film.

Then there's an action comedy called Playdate where Ritchson will be seen alongside Alan Tudyk, Isla Fisher, Kevin James, and more. It's about a man who loses his job and becomes a stay-at-home dad.

After Playdate, he will be seen in a sci-fi movie called War Machine and his role is still unknown. Finally, there's the action thriller Runner, where Ritchson will be seen with Owen Wilson. Regarding this film, the actor says that he goes even further than what we are about to witness in Motor City. He told Variety that,