Alan Ritchson’s ‘Runner’ Just Scored His Third-Best Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating Ever

Alan Ritchson has quietly turned himself into one of the busiest leading men in action cinema this year. Between headlining a hit streaming series and cranking out feature after feature, the actor has built a reputation for delivering exactly what genre fans want, night after night, release after release.

That momentum shows no signs of slowing down. His latest film continues a string of releases that have kept both critics and audiences showing up, even as the broader theatrical landscape remains unpredictable for mid-budget action fare.

The movie in question is ‘Runner,’ the new Angel Studios thriller pairing Ritchson with Owen Wilson, and audiences have responded with real enthusiasm. With more than 100 verified ratings logged, the film has landed a strong 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the third-best audience-rated movie of Ritchson’s entire career.

That places ‘Runner’ just behind ‘Ordinary Angels,’ which sits at 99%, and ‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,’ which holds a 91% audience score. For an actor with as varied a filmography as Ritchson’s, cracking the top three says a lot about how well this particular film is connecting with the people actually buying tickets.

In the film, Ritchson plays Hank Malone, a former soldier turned courier living in Australia who finds himself in a race against time after agreeing to deliver a liver desperately needed by a dying child. Wilson co-stars as Ben Bishop, an unlikely partner who knows the code to the medical cooler carrying the organ, and the pair quickly find themselves hunted by a ruthless cartel led by Damian Zaldívar, played by Rodrigo Santoro.

Directed by Scott Waugh, whose background includes stunt work and directing ‘Expend4bles,’ the film leans heavily into brutal, hard-hitting action sequences set against the backdrop of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Critics have been split on how well the film balances its violent tone with Wilson’s comedic instincts, but the pairing of the two actors has consistently been singled out as the film’s strongest asset.

New trailer for the action thriller ‘Runner’ starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson

It follows an ex-soldier who must outrun a ruthless cartel while delivering a life-saving medical organ

In theaters September 11 🍿 pic.twitter.com/1GZFRYEvRP

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) July 15, 2026

Critical reception has settled in the 65-70% range on Rotten Tomatoes depending on the review count at any given moment, a respectable but not overwhelming score for a film built around Ritchson’s physical presence and Wilson’s comedic timing. Still, that critical consensus hasn’t stopped the film from performing well at the box office, cracking the top five theatrical charts despite stiff competition from ‘Practical Magic 2,’ ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ and ‘The Odyssey.’

‘Runner’ is projected to pull in around $6 million during its opening weekend, a noticeable improvement over Ritchson’s earlier 2026 release ‘Motor City,’ which debuted with just $1.69 million. That kind of jump suggests audiences are actively seeking out his work rather than stumbling onto it, a distinction that matters for an actor building a long-term action career.

Between reprising his role in season four of ‘Reacher,’ supporting the upcoming spinoff ‘Neagley,’ and starring in three separate feature films this year alone, including ‘War Machine’ and ‘Motor City,’ Ritchson has arguably had the busiest and most consistently well-received stretch of his career in 2026. His final release of the year, ‘The Man with the Bag,’ arrives on Amazon on December 2 and will pair him alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Awkwafina, Liza Koshy, and Ken Jeong.

With one more film left before the year wraps, Ritchson is on the verge of closing out a nearly perfect run of audience-approved releases, and ‘Runner’ has only added to that momentum.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments.