Wikipedia

A Working Man

This article is about the 2025 film. For other uses, see Working Man (disambiguation).

A Working Man is a 2025 American action thriller film directed by David Ayer, who co-wrote the script with Sylvester Stallone. The film is based on the 2014 novel Levon's Trade by Chuck Dixon. It stars Jason Statham, Michael Peña and David Harbour.

A Working Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Ayer
Screenplay by
Based onLevon's Trade
by Chuck Dixon
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyShawn White
Edited byFred Raskin
Music byJared Michael Fry
Production
companies
Distributed byAmazon MGM Studios (through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Release date
  • March 28, 2025 (2025-03-28)
Running time
116 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million[2]
Box office$89.7 million[3][2]

A Working Man was released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures on March 28, 2025. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $89.7 million worldwide.

Plot

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Levon Cade, an ex-Royal Marine Commando, works as a construction foreman in Chicago and has a very close friendship with the Garcia family – Joe, his wife, Carla, and their daughter, Jenny – that runs the company. However, he struggles to gain custody of his daughter, Merry, after his wife died of cancer and she is now living with his father-in-law, Dr. Jordan Roth, who refuses to let him see Merry when he was deployed.

One night, while Jenny is out hanging with her friends, she is kidnapped by Russian traffickers Viper and Artemis. Joe and Carla reported their missing daughter to the police, but they were unable to find any leads to Jenny. Desperate, the parents offer Levon a sum of money to help them find their daughter, but Levon refuses, citing that he wants to move on from his military life. Unsure, Levon consults with his old friend, Gunny, a blind ex-Marine Raider, who suggests doing what is right for the Garcia family, so Levon takes matters into his own hands to bring her back home. He tracks down to Jenny's last location in a bar where she was hanging out with her friends and the bartender, Johnny. He follows Johnny back to his home and interrogates him before two more thugs arrive to make the news for Johnny. Levon kills all three of them and learns that the bartender and the thugs are working for the Bratva, a Russian mafia crime syndicate with Symon Kharchenko as the enforcer.

Symon's high-ranking captain, Wolo Kolisnyk, discovers the carnage and has a clean-up crew remove the evidence, but Levon follows him to his private estate where he interrogates Wolo before drowning him in a chair in his private pool. Symon learns of Levon's activities and sends his sons Danya and Vanko, to kill Levon.

Using his contacts from the FBI, Levon infiltrates the organization by pretending to be a dealer to get close to Wolo's son Dimi, who runs the trafficking part of the organization with a biker gang and their leader, Dutch. However, Danya and Vanko managed to capture Levon, but he killed them and crashed the van into a river. Symon learns of his son's death and summons the other high-ranking mafia members to exact revenge on Levon. He gets all of Levon's personal information, including his father-in-law and Merry. Symon sends his men to tie up Jordan and set his home ablaze to kill him, but Levon manages to save him. Levon takes Merry to stay with Gunny while he heads out to fight the mafia.

Levon brutally interrogates Dimi and gets him to lead him to the compound where Jenny is being kept before he executes Dimi. He gears up and attacks the compound, killing every criminal in his path, including Dougie and his biker gang. Levon finds Jenny, and kills the client and Viper, while Jenny strangles Artemis. Symon arrives to see Levon and Jenny riding away, and calls for backup; however, his boss orders him to leave Levon alone because of how dangerous Levon is and can bring down the mafia, and that nobody in the organization is going to help him in his crusade for vengeance if he goes rogue.

Levon reunites Jenny with her family and returns home to have dinner with Merry and Gunny.

Cast

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Production

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Sylvester Stallone originally developed an adaptation of the Chuck Dixon novel Levon's Trade as a television series with Balboa Productions.[5] The project changed into a film that was up for sale at the 2023 American Film Market, where the film was first announced to have David Ayer attached to direct and Jason Statham to star.[6] In January 2024, Amazon MGM Studios acquired U.S. and select international distribution rights to the film from Black Bear International, which sold the film to independent distributors elsewhere.[7] The film was put into development in part due to its potential for subsequent entries given the number of novels written by Dixon in the series.[8]

In April 2024, David Harbour, Michael Peña, Jason Flemyng, Arianna Rivas, Noemi Gonzalez, Emmett J. Scanlan, Eve Mauro, Maximilian Osinski, Kristina Poli, Andrej Kaminsky, and Isla Gie joined the cast in undisclosed roles.[9]

Principal photography began in April 2024 in London.[9][10] Filming also took place at Winnersh Film Studios in Berkshire, where it wrapped on May 31.[11]

Release

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In April 2024, the film was set to be released in the United States on January 17, 2025.[9] In December 2024, the title was changed from Levon's Trade to A Working Man, with a new release date of March 28, 2025. The theatrical release also included engagements in 4DX, Dolby Cinema and D-Box.[12]

Reception

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Box office

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As of April 27, 2025, A Working Man has grossed $36.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $53 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $89.7 million.[2][3]

In the United States and Canada, A Working Man was released alongside The Woman in the Yard, The Penguin Lessons, and Death of a Unicorn, and was projected to gross $10–12 million from 3,262 theaters in its opening weekend.[13] The film made $5.6 million on its first day, including an estimated $1.1 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to slightly overperform and debut to $15.5 million, topping the box office.[14][15] In its second weekend, the film made $7.3 million (a drop of 53%), finishing second behind newcomer A Minecraft Movie.[16][17]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 145 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "An efficient action flick that delivers on the meat and potatoes of a Jason Statham vehicle while skimping out on the personality, A Working Man clocks in and out without much fuss or flair."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[19] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[14]

In a 2 out of 5 star review for The Guardian, Jesse Hassenger wrote: "At its best, a movie like A Working Man functions as an update to the hard-boiled detective story, with a resilient bruiser conducting his own off-books missing-person investigation. [...]. But Stallone and Ayer don't have the patience for too much skullduggery; skullsmashery is more their thing, and as an action movie, A Working Man doesn't reach the giddy highs of Statham's best."[20]

In a review for The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Scheck praised the acting, particularly Harbour's, but stated: "The film feels overlong at nearly two hours, with repetitiveness settling in early. But it does have its enjoyable eccentric touches, several of which smack of Stallone, who often infuses his portrayals with subtle humor."[21]

References

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  1. ^ "A Working Man". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "A Working Man – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  3. ^ a b "A Working Man (2025)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  4. ^ "Film 'A Working Man' met Statham en Nederlandse acteur Croes eind maart in bios". RTL. January 10, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  5. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (October 17, 2018). "Sylvester Stallone To Star In Samaritan & Hunter, Acquires FBI Memoir as his Balboa Productions Ramps Up Slate". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  6. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (October 27, 2023). "Jason Statham To Star In David Ayer-Directed Sylvester Stallone Script 'Levon's Trade' From Black Bear & Bill Block's BlockFilm — AFM Hot Package". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on December 18, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  7. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (January 26, 2024). "Amazon MGM Lands Jason Statham Action-Thriller 'Levon's Trade' With David Ayer Directing Sylvester Stallone Script; Wide Theatrical Release Lined Up In U.S." Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on March 3, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  8. ^ O'Rourke, Ryan (January 5, 2024). "David Ayer Teases His Jason Statham-Led 'Levon's Trade' Adaptation". Collider. Valnet Inc. Archived from the original on January 8, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Wiseman, Andreas (April 8, 2024). "Michael Peña, David Harbour, Jason Flemyng & Arianna Rivas Join Jason Statham In David Ayer's 'Levon's Trade'; Amazon MGM Sets Release Date For Black Bear Action Pic Scripted By Sylvester Stallone". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  10. ^ Calnan, Ellie (April 15, 2024). "2024 film and high-end TV productions shooting in the UK and Ireland: latest updates". Screen Daily. Media Business Insight. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024.
  11. ^ Daniels, Nia (May 31, 2024). "Jason Statham wraps filming Levon's Trade at UK studio". The Knowledge Online.
  12. ^ Mahler, Matt (December 18, 2024). "Jason Statham's New Movie with 'Beekeeper' Director Gets Title & Release Date". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
  13. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 26, 2025). "'Snow White' In All Her Controversy To Trip Jenna Ortega's 'Unicorn', Jason Statham's 'Working Man' & More – Box Office Preview". Deadline. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  14. ^ a b "'Princess Mononoke' Re-Release Leads Previews With $1.2M, 'A Working Man' $1.1M & More – Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  15. ^ "Domestic 2025 Weekend 13". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  16. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 7, 2025). "'A Minecraft Movie' Mushrooms To $163M, Higher Than 'Barbie's Opening & Record For Video Game Pic As Warner Bros Brings Box Office Back – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  17. ^ "Domestic 2025 Weekend 14". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
  18. ^ "A Working Man". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 23, 2025.  
  19. ^ "A Working Man". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
  20. ^ Hassenger, Jesse (March 26, 2025). "A Working Man review – Jason Statham actioner is far too much work". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  21. ^ Scheck, Frank (March 26, 2025). "'A Working Man' Review: Jason Statham in David Ayer's Formulaic but Effective Actioner". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
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