Alan Ritchson is heading into the wilderness for Netflix. The star of War Machine and Reacher will lead an untitled survival competition series, his first time fronting an unscripted show.
The series will send a group of high-profile creators and headline-makers into a setting where the comforts of modern life have been stripped away, testing whether they can survive on self-reliance, problem-solving and grit. Ritchson, who appeared on season three of American Idol more than twenty years ago and sang Stevie Wonder's You Are the Sunshine of My Life, is now back in the unscripted lane with a far harsher stage.
Netflix is already familiar with the genre. The streamer previously found success with Outlast, which is set in the Alaskan wilderness and has been renewed for a third season, and with Alone, which recently launched its eleventh season on History and has built a large audience on Netflix. That gives Ritchson's new series a proven track to follow, even if his version has not yet been given a title.
The project comes with Bunim/Murray Productions behind it, a company whose credits include MTV's The Challenge, Hulu's Vanderpump Villa and Lifetime's The Chrisleys: Back To Reality. It also previously produced I Survived Bear Grylls, a survival series that ran for one season on TBS. Ritchson will executive produce alongside Julie Pizzi, Rupert Dobson, Gayani Wanigaratne and Jay Bienstock, who is also serving as showrunner, while John Faratzis is co-executive producer.
For Ritchson, the new series adds another turn as Netflix keeps building around a performer who is already one of the platform's familiar faces. The actor is heading into season four of Reacher, which he also executive produces, while continuing to anchor a survival format that asks a simpler question than most reality television: when the comforts disappear, who can still make it through?