Alan Ritchson was already familiar to Smallville and Titans viewers for respectively playing Aquaman and Hawk, but now fans of the Lee Child-created Jack Reacher are well acquainted with him too. Following Tom Cruise’s run as the character in the cinematic realm last decade, Ritchson is bringing Jack Reacher to life on Amazon’s Reacher series, and along with him obviously being overjoyed he’ll continue to play the role in a second season, it’s also been announced that the actor is lined up to star in a movie with Million Dollar Baby’s Hilary Swank.
Hailing from Kingdom Story Company, with Lionsgate handling distribution, Ordinary Angels is based on a true story about a struggling hairdresser, played by Hilary Swank, who rallies the community to help a widowed father, played by Alan Ritchson, save the life of his critically-ill daughter. All of this happens while Kentucky is bombarded by its worst snowstorm in history.
This marks Alan Ritchson’s latest team-up with Lionsgate, as the studio previously distributed Dark Web: Cicada 3301, which the actor starred in, co-wrote and directed. For Hilary Swank, Ordinary Angels will be her first movie since her 2020 offerings The Hunt and Fatale, the former of which was originally supposed to come out in 2019 until the controversy surrounding its subject matter saw Universal Pictures temporarily canceling The Hunt’s release. She also led the Netflix series Away, which was cancelled after just one season. Although Ordinary Angels’ premise sounds like it won’t be lacking in twists and turns, it’s a good bet Ritchson won’t have to worry about him suffering any fight scene-related injuries like he dealt with while shooting Reacher, including needing to go through surgery after Season 1 wrapped.
Behind the scenes, Deadline shared that The Unbreakable Boy’s Jon Dunn is directing Ordinary Angels and co-writing the latest draft of the script with Jon Erwin; Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig wrote an earlier draft. Stampede Ventures, Vertigo Entertainment, Stolen Sky Productions and Green Hummingbird Entertainment are also involved in the production. Gunn said the following about coming aboard Ordinary Angels:
I’m thrilled to be working with Hilary and Alan. They are both actors with incredible range, who find humanity and vulnerability in every character they play. They are perfectly matched to bring this complex and inspirational true story to life.
There’s no word yet on when Ordinary Angels will begin shooting, and presumably we’ll have to wait a little bit to learn who else will be joining Alan Ritchson and Hilary Swank in the cast. Regardless, I’m intrigued to see how these two do performing opposite one another. This movie is also sounds like it’s right in Kingdom Story Company’s wheelhouse, as this is the production company behind the Zachary Levi-led American Underdog, which was released at the end of 2021.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news concerning Ordinary Angels’ journey to the big screen. If you’re wanting to catch Alan Ritchson in action as Jack Reacher, his show can be watched with an Amazon Prime subscription. As for Hilary Swank, since last September, she’s been attached to star in an untitled, Alaska-set drama pilot for ABC from Spotlight director Tom McCarthy.
