411 Box Office Report: A Working Man Clips Snow White to Debut at Top Spot

Snow White was no match for Jason Statham, whose A Working Man usurped the Disney princess for the top box office spot this weekend. The David Ayer-directed action thriller opened with $15.2 million to top the box office, giving Ayer and Statham their first #1 opening as a team after The Beekeeper launched with $16.8 million in the #2 spot in January of 2024.

A Working Man performed at the high end of expectations, benefitting from a relative dearth of action fare in theaters right now. Audiences clearly enjoy seeing Statham’s working-class guy-turned-action hero thing; Beekeeper became a sleeper hit with $66.2 million domestic and $152.4 million last year and the positive sentiment to that film helped Working Man.

It should be noted that while critics were mild on Working Man, with Rotten Tomatoes aggregating the critical average at 52%, audiences are fully on board. The film earned a solid B CinemaScore and a 90% RT audience rating, with the word of mouth counteracting the mediocre reviews. But also, Statham is one of those action stars whose films are fairly critic-proof since audience know exactly what they’re getting here. Meg 2: The Trench rode its negative reviews to $82.6 million domestically and $397.8 million worldwide in August of 2023, for example.

Amazon MGM Studios did the job getting the word out about Working Man and of course it paid off. It should be said that the film’s profit is not yet assured; it has $30.2 million worldwide so far against a $40 million budget, and competition will ensure it doesn’t leg out like The Beekeeper. But it shouldn’t be too hard for the film to eke out some money for the studio as long as it doesn’t collapse completely – and that’s before it becomes an attractive option for prospective Prime Video subscribers. A Working Man is probably going to close out at around $45 million domestically.

As for Snow White, there’s no good news to soften the blow of its opening weekend. The Disney live-action remake was down a rough 66% to hit #2 in its second week with $14.2 million. That is the harshest drop of a Disney live-action remake since the studio launched in with gusto back in 2010, beating Dumbo’s 60% drop in April of 2019.

There is no way Disney can spin this one – they have a bomb on their hands. As of now, Snow White has grossed $66.8 million domestically and $143.1 million worldwide against an insurmountable $270 million budget. It may make it to $85 million domestically but Disney well over $150 million and perhaps much more than that.

Fathom Events bowed The Chosen: Last Supper — Part 1 this weekend and it delivered with $11.5 million. That is by far the best opening in the biblical franchise’s history, topping the $8.8 million that The Chosen Season 3: Episodes 1 & 2 began with back in November of 2022.

Last Supper is the fifth season of the story of Jesus’ life as produced by Dallas Jenkins, who has turned a tidy profit making these movies. There is no word on their budget, but he already has a deal to distribute season five on Prime Video. And with two entries left to release of the season in the coming weeks, there’s going to be box office receipts to come. The higher opening means it will probably be slightly more frontloaded than the previous films but should still make it to $20 million.
The Woman in the Yard won the battle of the new horror releases as it surpassed expectations with a $9.5 million opening weekend. That’s a strong start for Blumhouse and Universal’s grief horror film, giving Blumhouse a win after Wolf Man fell flat in January. It’s about on par with Blumhouse’s film last March, Imaginary, which opened to $9.9 million.

There has undeniably been a glut of horror at the box office and that’s going to cause some films to disappoint, but Woman in the Yard isn’t one of them. Critics were not impressed by it with a 42% RT aggregate, and word of mouth wasn’t great with a 42% RT audience rating and C- CinemaScore. Given the subject matter, the word of mouth is not unsurprising because audiences don’t usually like downer films. But Universal marketed it well and star Danielle Deadwyler is having a moment, so it was able to capitalize.

While Women in the Yard should fall quickly, it’s already pretty much in assured box office hit territory. The budget was only $12.5 million and it’s hard to imagine this film making it to less than $25 million stateside. (Overseas numbers have yet to come in.) In the end, this will prove to be a money maker in theaters for its studios.

The odds on Death of a Unicorn doing the same are far less certain. A25’s horror satire disappointed with just $5.8 million, below the $10 million start many hoped for. It’s the studio’s second horror film to fall short this month after Opus made nary a squeak a couple of weeks ago.

There’s a lot of reasons for this film’s less impressive start. First off, horror comedies are notoriously hard to sell and while audience reactions to the trailers were good, you’re still trying to get people to go see a movie about a rampaging unicorn which is a wild sell. The heavy glut of competition from new films at the box office didn’t help and while Women in the Yard was aimed more at a female crowd, Unicorn targeted the same male demo that showed out in strength to see A Working Man. When you add in the fact that critic reviews are slightly iffy (55% on RT), the writing was on the wall here.

Now to be sure, Death Of a Unicorn is not going to be considered a bomb. The $15 million budget won’t be made back in theaters, but this is right up A24 audiences’ alley and the studio does very well on PVOD with its titles. That said, in theaters it is probably going to close out at around $15 million and the international numbers will probably not be enough to bring it into profit before factoring in home video.

Coming in at #6 was the 4K restoration of rerelease of an anime classic as Princess Mononoke took in $4 million. That’s more than was expected for the GKIDS release, but of course this is all just extra money to add to the original hit status and the amount of money that the home video release will bring in. Mononoke now has an all-time theatrical total of $14.9 million in the US and $210.2 million worldwide.

Captain America: Brave New World’s strong legs continue as it was down just 30% in its seventh weekend to $2.8 million. The Marvel film again had the best hold in the top 10 and has now tallied up $196.6 million domestically and $405.8 million worldwide. It’s likely to end with $200 million domestically and will be very slightly profitable against its $180 million budget.

Black Bag dropped 50% to $2.1 million in its third weekend against the host of new competition, especially A Working Man. The Steve Soderbergh spy thriller is a money loser in theaters with $18.7 million domestically and $31.2 million worldwide against a $60 million production budget and may make it to $22 million in the US.

Mickey 17 was down 48% to $1.9 million in its fourth frame, bringing its totals to $43.6 million domestically and $121.1 million worldwide. The Bong Joon-ho is losing money considering its $118 million production budget and will fall short of $50 million domestically.

Novocaine closed out the top 10, down 61% in its third weekend to $1.5 million. The action comedy has now grossed $18.8 million domestically and $27.9 million worldwide against an $18 million budget with some overseas markets yet to come and should be profitable once it hits home viewing.

Next weekend will see a new #1 as The Minecraft Movie arrives and takes aim at around $60 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. A Working Man – $15.2 million ($15.2 million total, $30.2 million WW)
2. Snow White – $14.2 million ($66.8 million total, $143.1 million WW)
3. The Chosen: Last Supper – Part 1 – $11.5 million ($11.5 million total, $11.5 million WW)
4. The Woman in the Yard – $9.5 million ($9.5 million total, $9.5 million WW)
5. Death Of a Unicorn – $5.8 million ($5.8 million total, $5.8 million WW)
6. Princess Mononoke – $4 million ($14.9 million total, $210.2 million WW)
7. Captain America: Brave New World – $2.8 million ($196.6 million total, $405.8 million WW)
8. Black Bag – $2.2 million ($18.7 million total, $31.2 million WW)
9. Mickey 17 – $1.9 million ($43.6 million total, $121.1 million WW)
10. Novocaine – $1.5 million ($18.8 million total, $27.9 million WW)