Some action movies explain themselves. Others grab you by the collar, throw you into a car, and let the engine do most of the talking. This new revenge thriller looks very much like the second kind. Set in 1970s Detroit and built around brutal action, striking imagery, and a thunderous rock score, the film is being pitched less as a chatty crime drama and more as a full-body cinematic hit. Which, honestly, feels about right when your lead is Alan Ritchson(Reacher, Fast X) and the brief is apparently “say less, hit harder.”
The first teaser trailer for Motor City is out now, giving audiences their first look at Ritchson’s new action thriller. Directed by Potsy Ponciroli (Old Henry) from a script by Chad St. John, Motor City stars Ritchson as a man wronged by a group of criminals who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. After losing the love of his life, he goes on a blood-soaked warpath for revenge. The twist? The film contains only five spoken lines of dialogue. Subtle? Absolutely not. Potentially very satisfying? Big yes.
The cast also includes Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies, The Fault in Our Stars), Pablo Schreiber (Halo, 13 Hours), Ben Foster (Hell or High Water, 3:10 to Yuma), and Ben McKenzie (Gotham, The O.C.). The other major piece is the music. Motor City features a score by Jack White, which feels almost too perfect for a Detroit-set revenge movie with operatic scale and a rock-and-roll pulse.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
Advertisement
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
Advertisement
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
Advertisement
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
Advertisement
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
Advertisement
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
Advertisement
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
Advertisement
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
Advertisement
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
Advertisement
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Advertisement
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
Advertisement
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
Advertisement
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
Advertisement
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
Advertisement
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Advertisement
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Advertisement
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Advertisement
What Else Can We Expect From ‘Motor City’?
Last year, while speaking with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff at the Toronto International Film Festival, Foster shared some intriguing insights into working with Ritchson. “He’s very tall and very muscular and he’s very handsome,” Foster joked, before getting serious about Ritchson’s acting ambitions. “He’s terrific as a mover. I think he wants to do some deeper work or rather different kinds of work than he’s been doing, and that’s a joy.”
As for the film itself, Foster teased the experimental nature of the movie and namedropped a musical icon who had helped put it all together. “The film itself, Motor City — we just wrapped — is virtually a silent film. There are five lines of dialogue. Jack White is helping with the music, so it’s like a rock disco revenge film. It’s like a graphic novel, so it’ll be interesting to see how that shakes out.”
Independent Film Company will release Motor City in theaters on July 24. Stay tuned at Collider for more.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Release Date
July 24, 2026
Runtime
Advertisement
103 Minutes
Director
Potsy Ponciroli
Advertisement
Writers
Chad St. John
Advertisement
Producers
Greg Silverman, Jon Berg, Chad St. John, Cliff Roberts
You must be logged in to post a comment Login