{"id":2670766,"date":"2026-09-26T14:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/woke-reacher-star-alan-ritchson-admits-studio-begged-him-to-keep-his-mouth-shut-on-politics-but-he-refused-then-his-film-bombed\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T15:01:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T19:01:42","slug":"woke-reacher-star-alan-ritchson-admits-studio-begged-him-to-keep-his-mouth-shut-on-politics-but-he-refused-then-his-film-bombed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/woke-reacher-star-alan-ritchson-admits-studio-begged-him-to-keep-his-mouth-shut-on-politics-but-he-refused-then-his-film-bombed\/","title":{"rendered":"Woke &#8216;Reacher&#8217; Star Alan Ritchson Admits Studio Begged Him to Keep His Mouth Shut on Politics but He Refused&#8230; Then His Film Bombed"},"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\">46<\/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%2Fwoke-reacher-star-alan-ritchson-admits-studio-begged-him-to-keep-his-mouth-shut-on-politics-but-he-refused-then-his-film-bombed%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=2670766&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 is a webpage snippet with a &#8220;Read more&#8221; button that, when clicked, reveals additional content. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/shovel-back-better\/\" title=\"Shovel Back Better\">hidden content features<\/a> an article with embedded scripts, mainly discussing various topics related too Hollywood films and industry trends. It criticizes the influence of &#8220;wokeness&#8221; in movies, mentioning remakes, political opinions of actors like Alan Ritchson, and their potential impact on film success.The article also discusses the financial performance of recent films, highlighting that even movies with modest budgets and decent reviews can fail at the box office if controversial opinions alienate audiences. It emphasizes how social and political behaviors of actors and filmmakers can affect audience support and box office results, ultimately suggesting that openly expressing divisive views may hinder a film&#8217;s success. Additionally, there are advertising and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >comment submission sections included<\/a> in the webpage code.  <\/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><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Hey, you know what film audiences love? Wokeness!<\/p>\n<p>Wokeness blared into their ears and shoved into their eyes! Give us another remake where the villain is actually the misunderstood hero because of their intersectionality! Give us more live action \u201cSnow White,\u201d along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/branding-expert-disney-execs-crisis-talks-snow-white-remake-star-rachel-zegler-pr-disaster\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rachel Zegler\u2019s very-important opinions on Gaza<\/a>! More, more, <em>more!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Said literally no one ever.<\/p>\n<p>Or at least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/numbers-disneys-snow-white-remake-bigger-disaster-anyone-imagined\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the numbers seem<\/a> to be stacking up that way.<\/p>\n<p>Wokeness may be on the advance again after the vibe-shift retreat of 2024, but that doesn\u2019t hold true for the movies. \u201cReacher\u201d star Alan Ritchson is finding that out the hard way \u2014 after he decided to spend most of 2026 speechifying about how President Donald Trump was a \u201crapist\u201d who had deliberately tried to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fact-check-no-trump-not-wire-money-epstein-4700-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hide the Jeffrey Epstein files<\/a>, he told an audience that the studios had told him to be quiet about his stupid political grievances.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know how many phone calls I get from studios like, \u2018Would you shut the f*** up, please? Stop talking in public,\u2019\u201d Ritchson said earlier this month at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/alan-ritchson-claims-studios-told-him-not-to-talk-politics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Christian Post<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, but it\u2019s not chaos I\u2019m after,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s actually the opposite of chaos. I\u2019d like a little \u2014 I\u2019m not going to get into it. You don\u2019t want to see my rants start these g******n f***ing politicians everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to do it. Sony told me not to. And I\u2019m not going to say anything,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w2c7PBT9Uxg&#038;t=213s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">added<\/a> with a smirk.<\/p>\n<p>Ahahaha yeah, great, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/woke-reacher-star-alan-ritchson-sees-second-movie-bomb-box-office-many-months\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">you have two bombs<\/a> in a row on your hands, my dude.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReacher\u201d has been a success for Amazon, at least relative to what else is on its platform. His July film \u201cMotor City,\u201d which had decent enough reviews \u2014 but which was also plagued by a media tour where he decided everyone needed to hear his opinions on Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, because clearly nobody else has ever talked about that for a second \u2014 made $3 million against a $30 million budget.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRunner,\u201d which came out earlier this month, has garnered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-numbers.com\/movie\/Runner-(2026-Dir-Scott-Waugh)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$15.7 million<\/a> as of Saturday against a budget of somewhere between $35 million and $45 million.<\/p>\n<p>This is before so-called \u201cHollywood math\u201d features into things, which says that the break-even point of a picture is double the stated budget once you factor in promotion and distribution. This is more a general rule than a highly specific formula, but the point is that neither film even came close to making its raw budget, and neither film was simply dumped into theaters without press because they knew it was a bomb.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2009\/12\/the-black-list-to-be-posted-here-in-entirety-19919\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Both<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/2023\/12\/the-black-list-2023-1235661174\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">films<\/a> were actually picked off the so-called \u201cBlack List\u201d \u2014 which may sound bad, but is actually an annual list of the best finished screenplays going around Hollywood that haven\u2019t been picked up for production. Everything from \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/d1dlq8f5fkueth.cloudfront.net\/annual-lists\/2005.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Bucket List<\/a>\u201d to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/d1dlq8f5fkueth.cloudfront.net\/annual-lists\/2005.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Charlie Wilson\u2019s War<\/a>\u201d to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2016\/film\/news\/2016-black-list-scripts-announced-updating-live-1201939817\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">I, Tonya<\/a>\u201d has come off of there. (Also: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2010\/dec\/14\/hollywood-black-list-best-unproduced-scripts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter<\/a>.\u201d So they can\u2019t all be awards-bait.)<\/p>\n<p>Both films qualified as action flicks, just like \u201cReacher\u201d is on Amazon. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/motor_city\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Motor City<\/a>\u201d was the more challenging of the two, with deliberately sparse dialogue to illustrate the revenge-on-a-gangster story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/runner_2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Runner<\/a>\u201d seems to have been a more traditional action-comedy popcorn-muncher, with Owen Wilson as Ritchson\u2019s sidekick. It hasn\u2019t done a whole lot better.<\/p>\n<p>So, these films have three things in common. First, they\u2019re both action films with modest budgets, which should mean that they ought to at least recoup raw costs if the reviews aren\u2019t terrible. Two, the reviews weren\u2019t terrible. Three, the one star they have in common is Alan Ritchson, who\u2019s basically made his fear and loathing of Donald J. Trump the centerpiece of his support for the films.<\/p>\n<p>And then he wonders why the studios tell him to shut the heck up \u2014 in stronger language, apparently \u2014 about his dumb opinions.<\/p>\n<p>Is it the wokeness? Assume that you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/disneys-woke-lightyear-tanks-us-box-office-mainstream-media-cant-seem-figure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alienating half of America<\/a> if you become known for screeching your views into their faces at every opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Going to the movies is an inherently social experience for most of us. Rarely do any of us go alone, and usually then it\u2019s because we so love the subject of or the crew involved in making the film that even if our friends or family won\u2019t come along, we\u2019ll actively seek it out.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know anyone who is so in love with Ritchson or the directors of these movies so much that they\u2019d seek them out \u2014 but I know enough that, if a friend suggests we go see either one, I\u2019d demur unless the alternative is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/freddy-got-fingered-2001\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Green<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/stealing-harvard-2002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">film festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But therein lies the glorious part: We could <em>not<\/em> spend the money instead. And if there\u2019s one part of that half of America you\u2019ve alienated in every group potentially going to the movies, people are going to avoid the film, even if it means avoiding the multiplex, period. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/faith-based-film-rejected-interview-requests-conservative-media-bombed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Do the math, Alan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>People like Ritchson get the chance to live everyone\u2019s dream. And he\u2019s flushed it down the drain, in part because he can\u2019t control his obsessive need not just to moralize, but also to trash those he disagrees with. Nice work. Hope these flicks do okay on streaming, and maybe everyone can forget why they didn\u2019t see them in the first place if you take the studio\u2019s advice for once.<\/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( ! 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