It was only recently that director John Woo made an action movie without spoken dialogue. Three years since "Silent Night", another filmmaker is coming out with something similar, with the only difference being that it will have dialogues, but only five lines.
The film in question is Alan Ritchson-starrer "Motor City", directed by Potsy Ponciroli and written by Chad St. John. Set for release on July 24, it is an upcoming 1970s-inspired action-revenge thriller starring Alan Ritchson, which relies more on hyper-stylised action, immersive sound design, and a soundtrack curated by Jack White to drive its narrative.
The story is set in 1970s Detroit. Ritchson plays a working-class factory worker named John Miller, who falls in love with a woman named Sophia, much to the chagrin of her father, a ruthless mobster with police connections, who frames John to get him out of the picture. After spending years in prison enduring daily beatings, John breaks out and unleashes a brutal, wordless campaign of vengeance against those who set him up to win back his lost love.
For the role, the actor completely shed his clean-cut look from "Reacher" and underwent a massive physical transformation, appearing with a long, rugged mane of hair, a thick beard, and significantly added muscle bulk.
Alongside Ritchson, the film features an ensemble cast including Shailene Woodley as Sophia, Ben Foster as the ruthless mobster, and Pablo Schreiber. "Motor City" originally had its world premiere in the Venice Spotlight sidebar at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival before being picked up by RLJE Films (a vertical of IFC Entertainment Group) for a wide theatrical release.
On the minimal dialogues, Ben Foster told Deadline, “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.”
Ritchson, who is also involved as a producer, expressed his confidence in the project. In a recent interview with Variety, the actor said, “It was like, if I come on board, I want to put my fingerprint on it. I think I know how to do this. In fact, I think I know how to do this better than anybody. I know how to make action better than anybody. It’s what I like.”
Last seen in Netflix's surprise hit "War Machine", a feature-length action thriller that was described by some as a cross between "Predator" and "Terminator", Ritchson's next appearance is in "Runner", which sees him playing a high-end courier and former soldier who has exactly three hours to transport a live organ across a brutal landscape to save a seven-year-old girl. The seemingly straightforward delivery turns into a lethal race against time when a ruthless crime syndicate targets them to claim the organ. Owen Wilson plays the client he is forced to escort. It comes from director Scott Waugh ("Expend4bles").
Ritchson also features in "Fast Forever" (2028), the eleventh and final main instalment of the Vin Diesel-fronted "Fast" saga. Ritchson will reprise his role as Aimes, the double-crossing leader of the Agency who aligned himself with the principal antagonist, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa). It is slated for release on March 17, 2028.
