After falling short of The Beekeeper both critically and commercially, Jason Statham‘s latest film, A Working Man, is also trailing it in terms of audience response. The action movie debuted theatrically on Friday, and currently finds itself in a tight race for the top spot on the domestic box office charts with the holdover release Snow White. The movie’s mixed reviews are certainly playing a key role in its performance, and it would appear that its future is also in jeopardy, based on how opening day audiences have reacted to it.
According to the polling platform CinemaScore, which tabulates how likely a viewer is to recommend a given film to others, A Working Man earned a so-so B grade. This is under the B+ that The Beekeeper debuted with just last year, but on par with the grade earned by the first John Wick movie around a decade ago. Both The Beekeeper and John Wick are broadly considered to be hits; while Keanu Reeves‘ film has now spawned a proper franchise, The Beekeeper defied the odds to gross over $150 million worldwide, and is set to receive a sequel of its own. It also holds a “fresh” 71% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
By comparison, A Working Man holds a “rotten” 53% Rotten Tomatoes score. The film’s B grade on CinemaScore isn’t ideal, considering that audiences are typically quite lenient with R-rated action movies. For instance, it’s under the A- that they gave Statham’s 2021 hit, Wrath of Man, which made over $100 million worldwide. It’s also under The Meg, which remains Statham’s biggest hit as a leading man, with over $500 million at the global box office. Comparable films such as Monkey Man, Bullet Train, and The Gentlemen all earned superior B+ grades on CinemaScore.
‘A Working Man’ Opened to Mixed Reviews
It is common for higher-scoring films to perform better at the box office, while movies that earn lower grades tend to taper off. A Working Man is eying around $13 million in its first weekend, which is below the $16 million that The Beekeeper debuted with last year. Directed by David Ayer, the movie earned a positive review from Collider’s Nate Richard, who described it as “the kind of throwback to the action movies of the late-80s and early-90s that will have both your inner-action buff and your Dad hooting and hollering in the theater.” Also featuring Michael Peña and David Harbour, the movie is playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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