Director David Ayer’s second film in a row with star Jason Statham, A Working Man, has shown once again that critical response isn’t much of a factor when a movie has the audience’s support. A Working Man opened to mixed reviews last week, and has shown resilience at the box office as it enters its sophomore frame. The movie out-performed the far more expensive holdover release Snow White during its first weekend in theaters, and passed the $20 million milestone ahead of its second Saturday. This was made possible thanks to excellent audience reception, even as the film’s critical response remained unremarkable.
In fact, on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, A Working Man experienced another drop. It’ll enter its second weekend of release with a 50% approval rating, which puts it on the edge of the 40% range, and significantly lower than the 60% that it would require to earn a “fresh” badge on the platform. A Working Man’s score was in the high 50s when it debuted, before it dropped to 54% a day or two later. That being said, the film made up for this decline by earning a “verified hot” badge of honor thanks to an impressive 88% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is only marginally lower than the 92% audience score that Ayer and Statham’s previous collaboration, the action film The Beekeeper, earned last year. That film also earned superior reviews, and currently holds a “fresh” 71% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Statham has headlined several hit films in his career, but he’s never been a critical darling. He seems to have found a dedicated audience, though. In addition to The Beekeeper last year — the movie ultimately grossed over $150 million worldwide — he also starred in The Meg and its sequel, Meg 2: The Trench, which made a combined total of around $900 million globally.
‘A Working Man’ Will Tackle ‘A Minecraft Movie’ This Weekend

In his review, Collider’s Nate Richard described A Working Man 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.” The movie will relinquish its number one spot to this week’s new release, the video game adaptation A Minecraft Movie, which is expected to outdo projections as it launches wide. A Working Man will, however, pass its reported $40 million budget globally by Sunday. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.