{"id":2668223,"date":"2026-09-23T08:28:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/second-alan-ritchson-movie-bombs-at-theaters-woke-reacher-star-becomes-box-office-poison\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T08:32:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:32:36","slug":"second-alan-ritchson-movie-bombs-at-theaters-woke-reacher-star-becomes-box-office-poison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/second-alan-ritchson-movie-bombs-at-theaters-woke-reacher-star-becomes-box-office-poison\/","title":{"rendered":"Second Alan Ritchson Movie Bombs at Theaters, Woke \u2018Reacher\u2019 Star Becomes Box Office Poison"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsecond-alan-ritchson-movie-bombs-at-theaters-woke-reacher-star-becomes-box-office-poison%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2668223&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The provided content discusses the cultural and political implications of celebrities expressing their opinions publicly. It highlights Michael Jordan&#8217;s famous quote from 1990, where he joked about &#8220;appreciating his Republican sneaker customers,&#8221; which is often misinterpreted as a political statement but was actually meant as a joke. The article suggests that neutrality in politics can be advantageous for businesses and celebrities, as alienating potential customers may harm their success.<\/p>\n<p>It contrasts Jordan&#8217;s approach with that of actor Alan Ritchson, who openly shares his strong political views, including harsh criticism of then-President Donald trump and his supporters. Ritchson&#8217;s outspoken tactics have reportedly led to warnings from studios about his conduct and are believed to have negatively impacted his films\u2019 box office performance. Despite these films not being critically panned, their low earnings-less than $20 million combined against budgets exceeding $65 million-might potentially be partly attributed to Ritchson&#8217;s public political stances.<\/p>\n<p>the narrative suggests that political neutrality or careful communication by celebrities may be more beneficial to their success, while overt partisanship could have adverse effects, including diminished popularity and reduced commercial success.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>While basketball legend Michael Jordan has largely distanced himself from the famous quote that \u201cRepublicans buy shoes, too\u201d \u2014 he says it was more of an offhand joke than an actual statement of his beliefs \u2014 it remains an enduring quote in pop culture for a reason.<\/p>\n<p>The story stems from a 1990 North Carolina Senate race between Harvey Gantt, a black Democrat, and incumbent Jesse Helms, a Republican.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan was asked to endorse Gantt, and declined, apparently joking that he appreciates his Republican sneaker customers, too.<\/p>\n<p>Joke or not, there likely is some wisdom in Jordan\u2019s quip.<\/p>\n<p>Alienating potential customers in the name of hyperpartisan politics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/year-flopbuster-2023s-10-biggest-box-office-failures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">seldom works out well<\/a>, whether you\u2019re veering to the far left or far right.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, not everyone subscribes to this theory of neutrality.<\/p>\n<p>(See: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/irish-radio-station-bans-ed-sheerans-music-anti-israel-rapper-removed-us-tour\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sheeran, Ed<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Take, for instance, progressive \u201cReacher\u201d star actor Alan Ritchson. Unlike Jordan, who wanted to be cognizant of his diverse customer base, Ritchson has thrown any pretense of bipartisanship out the window \u2014 and if you\u2019ve seen Ritchson\u2019s size, you know that he can throw it far.<\/p>\n<p>The actor has had no qualms alienating potential \u201cReacher\u201d fans who may have a different political or ideological background from the mountainous Ritchson.<\/p>\n<p>Ritchson has left no illusions that he does not like President Donald Trump or his supporters.<\/p>\n<p>The actor has called Trump a \u201crapist,\u201d per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/entertainment\/2026\/07\/maga-rages-after-actor-says-trump-is-a-rapist-sue-this-simpleton-into-oblivion.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cleveland.com<\/a>, and also has taken a number of swipes at Trump in relation to disgraced sex convict Jeffrey Epstein, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/alan-ritchson-trump-epstein-reacher-1236655903\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>His rhetoric was getting so aggressive and alienating that studios apparently had to warn him to keep his political musings to himself, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/sep\/18\/reacher-star-alan-ritchson-says-studios-pressured-curb-political\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Washington Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And given the box office success \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 from Ritchson\u2019s two most recent big-picture releases, it\u2019s easy to see why studios were warning him.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxofficemojo.com\/release\/rl3795878145\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Box Office Mojo<\/a>, Ritchson\u2019s July film \u201cMotor City\u201d made a paltry $3 million. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt2012616\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IMDb<\/a> notes that the film had an estimated budget of $30 million.<\/p>\n<p>Ritchson\u2019s next film, \u201cRunner,\u201d came out in September and fared a bit better, raking in over $13 million worldwide, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boxofficemojo.com\/title\/tt31349844\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Box Office Mojo<\/a>. But according to <a href=\"https:\/\/movieweb.com\/alan-ritchson-runner-action-box-office-opening\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Movie Web<\/a>, \u201cRunner\u201d had a budget ranging from $35 million to $45 million.<\/p>\n<p>(None of the box office figures account for marketing.)<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s over $65 million spent on two films that brought back less than $20 million total thus far.<\/p>\n<p>The bizarre part of this is that neither movie was critically panned. Critics weren\u2019t going gaga for it like, say, Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d but the movies were largely inoffensive action films.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s obviously a large confluence of factors involved when dissecting box office flops. A number of mitigating factors could be at play in Ritchson\u2019s lackluster box office drawing power.<\/p>\n<p>But Ritchson\u2019s corrosive rhetoric almost assuredly played <em>some <\/em>role in these films\u2019 subdued box office returns.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan may have been joking, and it turns out that Republicans not only buy shoes, but may buy movie tickets as well.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Jordan has mostly disavowed the famous &#8220;Republicans buy shoes, too&#8221; quote, claiming it was just a joke rather than his true belief. Nonetheless, the phrase endures in pop culture because of its significance. It originated during the 1990 North Carolina Senate race between Democrat Harvey Gantt and Republican Jesse Helms, when Jordan declined to endorse Gantt and joked about appreciating his Republican sneaker customers. Whether humorous or not, this highlights that alienating potential customers over partisan politics rarely benefits anyone-whether on the left or right. Not everyone agrees with this neutral stance; for example, actor Alan Ritchson has openly expressed strong political opinions against Trump and his supporters, even calling Trump a \u201crapist\u201d and criticizing him related to Jeffrey Epstein. His outspoken rhetoric has reportedly led studios to warn him about sharing political views publicly. Despite Ritchson\u2019s efforts, his recent films have underperformed at the box office-\u201cMotor City\u201d earning only $3 million against a $30 million budget and \u201cRunner\u201d making around $13 million on a budget estimated between $35-45 million-totaling less than $20 million from both projects. Interestingly, neither film was critically panned; they were simply average action movies. Multiple factors influence box office success or failure, but Ritchson\u2019s controversial statements likely played a role in their poor performance. Meanwhile, Jordan\u2019s joke suggests that even Republicans are willing to spend on shoes-and perhaps movies too<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2668224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-09-22T214402.232.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[86106,86108,86107,86110,86109],"class_list":["post-2668223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-alan-ritchson","tag-box-office-failure","tag-movie-bomb","tag-reacher-2","tag-woke-actor"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-09-22T214402.232.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2668223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2668223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2668223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2668231,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2668223\/revisions\/2668231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2668224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2668223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2668223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2668223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}