Fall 2026 Action Movies: Gal Gadot's The Runner, Alan Ritchson's Runner and a Stacked September

Two Runners, One Fall: September's Action Pile-Up Is Glorious Chaos

Hollywood accidentally scheduled two movies with nearly identical titles in the same month, and honestly? We're here for it. The Runner starring Gal Gadot and Runner starring Alan Ritchson both hit theaters in September — surrounded by a genuinely stacked fall action slate that proves mid-budget thrillers are officially back from the dead.

After a summer dominated by $200M tentpoles like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey (which helped push the season to a record $4.76B), September belongs to leaner, meaner movies: tight runtimes, movie-star charisma, and premises you can explain in one sentence. Fall movie season, everybody — it's back.

Gal Gadot Races Through London in The Runner

The Runner (September 2, Amazon MGM Studios) casts Gal Gadot — trading the Lasso of Truth for a ticking clock — as high-powered attorney Maia Marten, who must sprint across London following cryptic phone commands from a mysterious caller (Damian Lewis) to save her kidnapped son. One hour, one chance, 86 minutes, zero fat. The Wonder Woman star has been picking grittier post-DC projects (see also: Heart of Stone on Netflix), and this lean kidnapping thriller looks like her most focused vehicle yet.

Meanwhile Runner (September 11) stars Reacher's Alan Ritchson in a next-day-delivery-gone-wrong thriller — "next-day delivery isn't an option" is the gloriously dad-joke tagline — that's already scoring solid audience numbers in early tracking. Ritchson has quietly become one of the most reliable action draws in the business, and his mountain of Reacher Season 4 goodwill on Prime Video should carry straight into opening weekend.

Don't Sleep on By Any Means, Onslaught and Just Play Dead

The bench is genuinely deep. By Any Means (September 4, Paramount Pictures) pairs Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a young Black FBI agent with Mark Wahlberg as real-life mob hitman Greg Scarpa, sent into 1960s Mississippi to investigate murders targeting civil rights leaders. Prestige subject matter, pulpy odd-couple engine — shades of Mississippi Burning meets The Departed.

Onslaught (September 4, A24) gives Adria Arjona — fresh off Andor and Hit Man — a super-soldier survival showcase as an Army sniper protecting her daughter from escaped genetically engineered soldiers. And Just Play Dead (September 1) lets Samuel L. Jackson and Eva Green scheme over a $30M life-insurance con involving a faked death, a surfer lover, and double-crosses stacked on double-crosses. Add Fall 2: Deadpoint for the vertigo crowd and Primate for horror fans, and September is quietly the most fun month at the movies.

Bottom line: September belongs to sprinters, snipers, and schemers. Pick your Runner and run to the theater.