Disney’s “Snow White” remake may melt enough in its second weekend for Amazon MGM’s actioner “A Working Man” to open on top of the box office. The close match-up for first will only yield a modest prize though, as other new features like A24’s “Death of a Unicorn” and Universal’s “The Woman in the Yard” post more muted openings.
“A Working Man” led the way on Friday, earning $5.6 million across its opening day and preview screenings from 3,262 locations. The R-rated action conspiracy thriller, which sees Jason Statham reteaming with director David Ayer just over a year after the pair bowed “The Beekeeper,” is also getting boosted ticket prices from some premium large-format auditoriums like Dolby and 4DX.
Now projecting a $15.6 million debut, “Working Man” is pacing a touch behind the $16 million opening weekend earned by “The Beekeeper” in January 2024, which later posted a strong multiplier and finished with $66 million domestic and more than $160 million worldwide. Critics and audiences are both a bit cooler here than they were for “Beekeeper” (moviegoer pollster Cinema Score posted a “B” grade), so there could be less staying power. But even if its numbers are smaller, it’s a solid bow for “A Working Man” and producer Black Bear, plus more evidence for Statham being one of the few modern actors with the résumé of a reliable theatrical draw.
Whether or not “Snow White” falls to second place in its sophomore outing, the Disney release isn’t showing the staying power it needs to wind up successful in theaters. The fantasy film earned $3.7 million on Friday and is eyeing a second frame north of $14 million, which would mark a hefty 65% decline from an opening weekend that already fell below box office projections.
With that pace, it’s unlikely that “Snow White” will even outgross Disney’s 2019 reimagining of “Dumbo,” which finished with a disappointing $114 million domestic and $353 million worldwide — and that elephant fairytale cost much less than the whopping $250 million production budget of this new release. It’s an indicator that this may have been one bite at the apple too many for Disney’s practice of re-imagining its animated classics in live-action — or that a remake of a movie that’s nearly 90 years old isn’t going to be an instant hit with modern audiences. Disney has the more millennial-familiar “Lilo & Stitch” remake coming in May.
Theaters do get a franchise opening this weekend with “The Chosen: Last Supper,” which marks Season 5 of the 5&2 Studios’ television adaptation of the life of Jesus Christ. (As the title would indicate, the Biblical series is about to reach a climactic betrayal.) Specialty distributor Fathom Entertainment is releasing this new season to theaters as a weeks-spanning event, bowing the first two episodes this weekend in 2,234 theaters.
This first edition of “The Chosen: Last Supper” earned $5 million across Friday and preview screenings, putting it on track to surpass the $7.2 million franchise-best weekend earned by “The Chosen” Season 4 (Episodes 1-3) in February 2024. Fathom will debut two more packages of new episodes over the next few weeks ahead of Easter.
Despite Fathom’s growing success with “The Chosen,” “Last Supper” marks the banner’s last rodeo with the series, as 5&2 Studios and global distributor Lionsgate have made a deal with Amazon to stream the final two installments as feature-length films. The new agreement also includes a theatrical release component.
Opening further down the charts, Universal’s PG-13 horror play “The Woman in the Yard” isn’t pulling up too many seats after earning $3.6 million across Friday and previews from 2,842 locations. The Blumhouse production, which stars Danielle Deadwyler and marks director Jaume Collet-Serra’s return to horror, will land in fourth place. It has respect among auteurists, though reviews are largely negative and audiences aren’t receptive either (a “C-” grade on CinemaScore). But as is the Blumhouse brand, “Woman in the Yard” was not a hefty financial investment, with a $12 million production budget.
A24 is making a try at a starry genre comedy this weekend with “Death of a Unicorn,” nailing its horn in fifth place. The gory ensemble piece, which has a cast including Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega and Téa Leoni’s first film performance in over a decade, earned about $2.2 million from 3,050 theaters across Friday and previews.
Critics weren’t exactly enthusiastic about “Unicorn” out of its SXSW premiere earlier this month and the film isn’t really catching on with audiences either (a “B-” grade on CinemaScore). It’s another unrealized breakout for A24, which also failed to ignite with the horror satire “Opus” earlier this month. The indie banner will try again with military thriller “Warfare” in April.
Also opening this weekend, Gkids has the 4K restoration of Hayao Miyazaki’s 1997 classic “Princess Mononoke” in 330 locations, sharing Imax theaters with “Snow White.” After a week of AI moguls touting Studio Ghibli approximations online, fans of the actual artists that that tech rips from are giving a nearly 20-year-old film a welcoming theatrical turnout. “Mononoke” is projecting a $3.8 million weekend by rivals. The original 1999 U.S. release earned just $2.3 million across its entire run.
