Middle America is taking charge of the box office, where David Ayer’s blue-collar drama A Working Man beat Snow White in a surprise upset with a better-than-expected domestic opening of $15.2 million from 3,262 theaters.
Snow White took in $14.2 million from 4,200 locations, a steep decline of 66 percent as the live-action update continues be dogged by poor word-of-mouth and controversial headlines over its titular star, Rachel Zegler. The film’s domestic tally throughout Sunday is a muted $66.8 million domestically and $143.1 million globally.
However, Disney isn’t waving the white flag of defeat, and says its movie could still avoid biting the poison apple because of rolling spring breaks over the next few weeks and little competition in terms of films targeting girls and females. (Next week’s A Minecraft Movie is expected to skew male.)
But the film’s dismal performance in its second weekend is more bad news for Disney and puts Snow White in official bomb territory, considering it cost roughly $370 million to market and produce.
Working Man‘s victory comes at a symbolic juncture for Amazon MGM Studios, which late last week saw the surprise ouster of studio head Jennifer Salke as it embarks on an ambitious journey to become a major Hollywood studio with global distribution powers after acquiring rights to the James Bond franchise. Her exit came on the eve of CinemaCon, where Amazon MGM will present for the first time this coming week.
Ayer directed the well-reviewed Working Man from a script he wrote with Sylvester Stallone. The R-rated film, based on the novel Levon’s Trade by Chuck Dixon, stars Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Maximilian Osinski, Cokey Falkow, Michael Peña and David Harbour.
The story follows a black ops vet (Statham) who left behind a decorated military career to live a simple life working construction. But when his boss’ daughter, who is like family to him, is taken by human traffickers, his search to bring her home uncovers a world of corruption far greater than he ever could have imagined.
Also opening this weekend is Fathom’s latest big-screen showing of The Chosen series. Grosses show The Chosen: The Last Supper (Part One) placing third with a pleasing $11.5 million from 2,234 theaters.
Universal and Blumhouse’s horror entry The Woman in the Yard opened in fourth place with a sturdy $9.5 million from 3,050 theaters. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Danielle Deadwyler, the film revolves around a family that becomes rattled by a mysterious stranger who shows up at their isolated farm
A24’s Death of a Unicorn rounded out the top five with a so-so $5.6 million from 2,842 cinemas. The horror pic stars Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd.
Hollywood and theater owners — who will gather together Monday in Las Vegas for CinemaCon — are facing a year-over-year deficit of 11 percent in terms of domestic box office revenue. The gap, attributed to the lingering impact of the pandemic and strikes, is sure to be a main topic of conversation throughout CinemaCon.
March 30, 7:35 a.m.: Updated with revised numbers.
This story was originally published on March 29 at 9:02 a.m.
Pamela McClintock
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