Alan Ritchson Is A Blood-Soaked Silent Vigilante In New Action-Packed Motor City Trailer

Alan Ritchson is out to reclaim his life by any means possible in the new Motor City trailer.

Hailing from Greedy People‘s Potsy Ponciroli, Ritchson leads the new film as John Miller, a working-class man in 1970s Detroit living an idyllic life with his girlfriend. On the day of proposing to her, however, he’s framed as a drug smuggler by a ruthless local gangster who is similarly smitten with his girlfriend, with John getting out of prison years later and setting out on a quest for revenge on those responsible.

Ahead of the movie’s July 24 release, IFC has unveiled the full Motor City trailer. The video offers a look at Ritchson’s happy life before he’s wrongfully imprisoned, gradually shifting to his blood-soaked efforts to get revenge against Ben Foster’s Reynolds and those who helped him put John away in the first place. Check out the action-packed new trailer below:

Motor City‘s impending arrival marks the end of a 15-year-long journey to bring the unique action film to life on screen. Having first come to life with Chad St. John’s script breaking out in the 2009 Black List, the movie went through a variety of stars, directors and studios in the years that followed, with everyone from Chris Evans to Dominic Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal and Gerard Butler attached to the central role before Ritchson eventually came onboard.

While alluded to in prior interviews with Ritchson and the others involved in the film, the new Motor City trailer does offer the closest confirmation yet to his central protagonist being a completely silent vigilante. Between its tagline of “Revenge speaks louder than words,” to no character dialogue being included in the footage, apart from John screaming while destroying a bathroom sink and shower, the sound design notably plays off of the music and sound effects.

Interestingly, the trailer may also have revealed a practical reason for Ritchson’s silence in the new film, that being the stun grenade thrown through his window, and rough treatment while being arrested. His character can briefly be glimpsed talking, albeit no audible dialogue coming from him, while the previous Motor City trailer also featured a brief vocal track from Shailene Woodley’s Sophia, potentially hinting that the minimal dialogue is due to some form of injury sustained on John’s part.

This isn’t the first action movie in recent history to have little-to-no dialogue come from their central protagonist. The John Woo-helmed Silent Night quickly became a buzzy project for having Joel Kinnaman’s character being unable to speak after his vocal cords are damaged in a drive-by shooting, as well as being Woo’s first movie in almost a decade. Unfortunately, it went on to garner mixed reviews from critics and underwhelmed at the box office, only grossing $11.1 million.

Thankfully for Ritchson and his Motor City cohorts, the gimmick does appear to be working in the movie’s favor so far. Since making its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, the film has garnered largely positive reviews from critics, currently sitting at a 70% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. With Ritchson’s popularity also helping drive further successes beyond Prime Video’s Reacher, including Netflix’s War Machine becoming one of the streamer’s all-time most popular films, it will be interesting to see if the promise of a unique twist on a classic format, brutal action and his leading presence carries it to be a box office hit.

Release Date

July 24, 2026

Runtime

103 Minutes

Director

Potsy Ponciroli