News

Before he became renowned for crushing bad guys' vocal chords with a single squeeze, "Reacher" star and Batman fan-cast favorite, Alan Ritchson, directed and starred in his own off-the-wall action thriller, "Dark Web: Cicada 3301." The film followed a hacker (Jack Kesy) who discovers a society of online codebreakers and gets tasked with exposing them. Ritchson appeared in a supporting role as a government agent who finds himself at odds with our hero and, somehow, ends up in a forest in a diaper and wearing an enormous papier-mâché baby head (as you do). Much like his beloved stint in "Blue Mountain State" (which housed one of his best non-Reacher roles), the movie was proof that Ritchson wasn't afraid to make a fool of himself. He had one of his collaborators on the project to thank for helping him achieve some more laughs.

"Joshua Montcalm, who I wrote this with, took it from a fun,...

"Reacher" has proved to be a massive hit for Prime Video, with season 3 breaking ratings records for the streamer. As enjoyable as the action and writing is on the show, though, there's no getting around the fact that star Alan Ritchson is the main draw. Not only has he given fans a physically accurate version of Jack Reacher after Tom Cruise failed to do so with his two movies based on Lee Child's novels, but he's also brought an array of other skills to the role that have made the series one of Prime Video's most successful. The actor adeptly handles Reacher's atypical sense of humor, for example, bringing the character to life in a way that goes beyond simply being a 235-pound monster of a man.

But "Reacher" was hardly the first time Ritchson demonstrated his comedic timing and general sense of humor. The actor, who's been working...

Stars: Jack Kesy, Conor Leslie, Ron Funches, Alan Ritchson, Andreas Apergis, Kris Holden-Ried, Alyssa Cheatham, Victoria Snow, Marvin Karon | Written by Joshua Montcalm, Alan Ritchson | Directed by Alan Ritchson

Cyber-thriller Dark Web: Cicada 3301 comes from actor turned writer/director Alan Ritchson (Titans) and is based on a series of mysterious, unsolved real-life set of puzzles, created and run by an organization called “Cicada 3301” that was apparently used to recruit codebreakers from the public, starting way back in 2012. The film however uses that puzzle element to deliver a film that feels very much like a hi-tech version of National Treasure…

Dark Web: Cicada 3301 follows genius hacker Conner who stumbles across Cicada 3301, an online treasure hunt that could be a recruiting tool for a secret society. So far, so much like the real-life story. That doesn’t last long as Conner (Jack Kesy), his art-expert friend Avi (Ron Funches...

Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment Group holds North American rights.

Hyde Park International has engaged TIFF buyers in talks over action comedy Cicada 3301 directed by Alan Ritchson, recently unveiled as the lead in Amazon’s Jack Reacher reboot.

Ritchson also features in the film which he co-wrote with Joshua Montcalm and centres on the secretive scavenger hunt phenomenon Cicada 3301.

Jack Kesy plays a down-on-his-luck savant who stumbles upon the online enigma and attracts the attention of a pair of inept Nsa agents.

Ron Funches, Conor Leslie, and Andreas Apergis round out the key cast.

Ritchson produced alongside DJ Viola,...

Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment Group has acquired the North American rights to Cicada 3301. The comedy-thriller marks the feature directorial debut of Alan Ritchson, who co-wrote the script with Joshua Montcalm. Lionsgate Home Entertainment is set to distribute the film digitally across multiple platforms on a to-be-determined date.

According to the official synopsis, Cicada 3301 follows disenfranchised hacker savant, Connor Black (Jack Kesy), his affable best friend, Avi Berkowitz (Ron Funches) and a cunning librarian (Conor Leslie), who find themselves over their heads when forced to compete in a sophisticated dark web secret society’s global recruitment game. Ritchson also stars in the film as the inept antagonist Nsa Agent Carver along with industry veteran Andreas Apergis (Riddick).

“I’ve been a fan of Alan’s acting for a long time, and now, after seeing Cicada 3301, I’m equally impressed by his chops as a director,” said Grindstone Entertainment Group’s Ryan Black.