NEW YORK – In an unexpected upset, the Jason Statham thriller “A Working Man” took No. 1 at the box office, besting the rapidly declining “Snow White,” according to studio estimates Sunday.

Even after a lackluster debut, the Walt Disney Co.’s live-action remake was predicted to remain the top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend. Instead, “Snow White,” plagued by bad buzz and backlash, nosedived in its second weekend and dropped 66%.

At the same time, Amazon MGM Studios’ “A Working Man,” directed by David Ayer, beat expectations with a $15.2 million debut. Co-written by Sylvester Stallone, “A Working Man” reteams Statham and Ayer following last year’s successful “The Beekeeper” ($162 million worldwide). This time around, Statham plays a construction worker with an elite military past.

While reviews have been mixed and audiences only gave “A Working Man” a “B” CinemaScore, showing Statham has carved out something rare in the movie industry today: bankability. “A Working Man” opened similarly to “The Beekeeper,” which launched with $16.5 million.

The bigger headline, though, might have been the fast erosion of ticket buyers’ appetite for “Snow White.” The film, directed by Marc Webb and starring Rachel Zegler, had been hoped to lift movie theaters after a painful start to 2025. Produced for more $250 million, the film has turned into a poisoned apple, with a two-week global haul of $143.1 million.

Next weekend, Warner Bros.’ “A Minecraft Movie,” is expected to win the weekend and will, like “Snow White,” target family audiences.

A trio of newcomers – A24’s “Death of a Unicorn,” Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Woman in the Yard,” and the Fathom’s “Chosen: The Last Supper” – also opened over the weekend, though none made a big impact.

“The Chosen: The Last Supper,” fared the best, with $11.5 million in 2,235 theaters. The Christian TV series, now in its fifth season, has regularly driven ticket sales before streaming. More episodes will roll out in theaters through April.

“Death of a Unicorn,” a horror comedy starring Jenna Ortega and Paul Rudd, portrays a father and daughter who hit a unicorn on the road while they’re driving. The movie collected a modest $5.8 million from 3,050 theaters.

The weekend’s more straightforward horror contender, Blumhouse’s “The Woman in the Yard,” starring Danielle Deadwyler, debuted with $9.4 million from 2,842 cinemas. In “Black Adam” director Jaume Collet-Serra’s film, a mysterious woman keeps appearing in a family’s front yard. Though it cost little to make, with a production budget of $12 million, it has been slammed by critics.

One of the weekend’s biggest successes was the 1997 Studio Ghibli classic “Princess Mononoke.” The Hayo Miyazaki film grossed $4 million across just 347 IMAX screens. Distributor GKids touted that result as a victory for humanity over technology. Earlier in the week, a new version of ChatGPT allowed users to render images in Studio Ghibli-like animation.

Sony Pictures Classic’s “The Penguin Lesson,” starring Steve Coogan and Jonathan Pryce, opened with $1.2 million at 1,017 theaters. Coogan plays an Englishman teaching in Argentina in 1976 who rescues a penguin from an oil spill.

With flagging ticket sales overall, Hollywood marked the first quarter of 2025 with a sizeable box-office deficit. Sales are down 11% from the same point in 2024, and nearly 40% from 2019, according to Comscore.

“Hopefully ‘Minecraft’ can help the marketplace level up since after some underwhelming weekends at the box office we need to get some momentum back at the multiplex,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures due Monday, the following list factors in estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “A Working Man,” $15.2 million

2. “Snow White,” $14.2 million.

3. “The Chosen: Last Supper,” $11.5 million.

4. “The Woman in the Yard,” $9.5 million.

5. “Death of a Unicorn,” $5.8 million.

6. “Princess Mononoke,” $4 million.

7. “Captain America: Brave New World,” $2.8 million.

8. “Black Bag,” $2.2 million.

9. “Mickey 17,” $1.9 million.

10. “Novocaine,” $1.5 million.