Alan Ritchson is heading into the wilderness for Netflix. The actor will front an untitled survival competition series that pushes high-profile creators and headline-makers into a stripped-down contest where comfort disappears and only the toughest adapt.
The show will test whether contestants can handle competition, alliances and bruised egos while relying on self-reliance, problem-solving and grit. It is Ritchson’s first time leading an unscripted series, a sharp turn for an actor best known in recent years for scripted action and the long-running appeal of Reacher.
The project gives Netflix another swing at a genre it already knows how to work. The company has had success in survival competition programming with Outlast and Alone, with Outlast renewed for a third season and Alone recently launching its eleventh season. The new series is being produced by Bunim/Murray Productions, which also made I Survived Bear Grylls for TBS.
Ritchson is not new to televised competition, even if this is his first unscripted hosting job. More than twenty years ago, he appeared on season three of American Idol and sang Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” Now he is leading a project aimed at testing other people under pressure, while still carrying a busy run of his own.
He is heading into season four of Reacher and has several film projects in motion or recently released, including War Machine, The Runner opposite Owen Wilson, The Man With The Bag opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Motor City alongside Shailene Woodley and Ben Foster, and Playdate with Kevin James. The series is executive produced by Ritchson, Julie Pizzi, Rupert Dobson, Gayani Wanigaratne and Jay Bienstock, who is also the showrunner, with John Faratzis as co-executive producer.
For Ritchson, the move brings his career back to the format where many viewers first saw him, but on a very different stage. This time, he is not singing for a vote. He is asking whether other well-known names can survive once the modern world is pulled away.
