Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone have collaborated on multiple projects over the years, and we’re not just talking about the four Expendables movies they made together. Stallone also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 Statham action film Homefront, which was directed by Gary Fleder and based on a novel by Chuck Logan. Now, Statham and Stallone are continuing their working relationship with the action thriller A Working Man, which also reunites Statham with his The Beekeeper director David Ayer – and looks to be very much along the same lines as that film. A Working Man is set to reach theatres on March 28th, and in anticipation of its release, we decided to put together a list of everything we know about the movie. Here we go:

SOURCE MATERIAL

A Working Man is based on the novel Levon’s Trade, written by Chuck Dixon and originally published in 2014. Dixon is best known for his work in the comic book world, and over the last forty-plus years he has written for the likes of The Punisher, Conan, The Simpsons, G.I. Joe, Moon Knight, Freddy Krueger, and many more. He was DC Comics’ most prolific Batman writer in the 1990s and even took part in the famous Knightfall story arc – you know, the one where Bane (a character Dixon co-created) breaks Batman’s back.

For Levon’s Trade, Dixon crafted the following story: Levon Cade left his profession behind to work construction. He just wants to live an anonymous life and be a good dad to his daughter. But when a local girl vanishes, he’s asked to return to the skills that made him a mythic figure in the shadowy world of counterterrorism. Levon’s hunt for the missing college student takes him to the heart of a vicious criminal conspiracy, and his actions create a chain reaction that threatens all he holds dear. It’s time for him to return to his trade. And Levon’s trade is death. In creating the Levon Cade character, he came up with a character who’s such a badass, one reviewer said he “makes Jack Reacher seem like a crossing guard.”

Sylvester Stallone has long been aware of Dixon’s work – in fact, Dixon has said that he was offered, and turned down, the chance to do a rewrite on the screenplay for The Expendables 2. And when Levon’s Trade hit store shelves, Stallone acquired the adaptation rights. In October of 2018, it was announced that Stallone’s Balboa Productions was developing a Levon’s Trade TV series… but, obviously, it was decided that a film adaptation would be a better option.

CREATIVE TEAM

As mentioned, A Working Man has been directed by The Beekeeper‘s David Ayer, who also worked on the script with Stallone. A couple different synopses have been released for their take on the material. Here’s one: Levon Cade left behind a decorated military career in the black ops to live a simple life working construction. But when his boss’s daughter, who is like family to him, is taken by human traffickers, his search to bring her home uncovers a world of corruption far greater than he ever could have imagined. And here’s the other: Levon Cade left his “profession” behind to live a simple life working construction and spending time with his daughter. But when his boss’s teenage daughter vanishes, he’s called upon to re-employ the skills that made him a legendary figure in the shadowy world of black ops. Levon’s hunt for the missing college student takes him to the heart of a sinister criminal conspiracy creating a chain reaction that will threaten his new way of life. Two different ways of saying the same thing.

Stallone, Statham, and Ayer produced the film alongside Bill Block, John Friedberg, Chris Long, and Kevin King Templeton. When it was announced (and was, at that point, still going by the title Levon’s Trade), Block provided the following statement: “I am thrilled to be reuniting with some of my most talented and longstanding partners on Levon’s Trade. I first worked with David Ayer on Fury and it was immediately clear that he is a director at the very top of his game. Jason and I have worked together on a number of films, and most recently the three of us collaborated on The Beekeeper. Levon’s Trade is going to be another spectacular action movie and I’m confident we’ve assembled the dream team to bring the first novel in this celebrated series to the big screen.“

Although the novel primarily takes place in Florida, the movie was filmed in London. Production began in April of 2024 and wrapped at the end of the following month.

CAST

Statham takes on the role of badass military veteran Levon Cade. Arianna Rivas (Prom Dates) plays Jenny, the girl abducted by human traffickers. Michael Peña (Ant-Man) and Noemi Gonzalez (Selena: The Series) play Jenny’s parents. David Harbour (Stranger Things) plays Levon’s blind, weapons-providing associate Gunny Lefferty. Isla Gie (The Outlaws) shows up as Levon’s daughter Merry. Also in the cast are Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Emmett J Scanlan (Fool Me Once), Eve Mauro (Cypher), Maximilian Osinski (The Walking Dead: World Beyond), Kristina Poli (Leona End Mark), Andrej Kaminsky (John Wick: Chapter 4), Merab Ninidze (Without Remorse), Cokey Falkow (Doomsday), and more. Because Statham always needs plenty of people to beat up.

It’s sort of surprising that Stallone didn’t reserve the role of Gunny Lefferty for himself. It’s worth nothing that, if Stallone doesn’t show up as any character at all, this will be the first movie he wrote without also appearing in it since Homefront in 2013.

RELEASE

A Working Man was originally aiming for a January 17, 2025 release date. It was then moved back to March 28th, putting it in direct competition with the horror film The Woman in the Yard, from Blumhouse Productions and director Jaume Collet-Serra, and the oddball A24 horror comedy Death of a Unicorn, starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega. This also happens to be one week after the release of Disney’s live-action Snow White and one week before the release of A Minecraft Movie… but those kid-friendly movies are not exactly going for the same audience A Working Man will appeal to.

The film is set up at Amazon MGM Studios, and the company will be giving it a wide theatrical release in the U.S., while Prime Video holds the streaming rights in many major international territories. Outside of those Prime Video international territories (where it may receive a streaming-only release), the producers have sold the film independently to theatrical distributors in multiple overseas markets.

A Working Man has been rated R for strong violence, language throughout, and drug content.

A trailer was unveiled at the start of March:

FRANCHISE POTENTIAL

Chuck Dixon’s Levon Cade series currently consists of twelve novels, as Levon’s Trade has been followed by Levon’s Night, Levon’s Ride, Levon’s Run, Levon’s Kin, Levon’s War, Levon’s Time, Levon’s Home, Levon’s Hunt, Levon’s Prey, Levon’s Range, and Levon’s Scourge. So, if A Working Man turns out to be a box office success, and if Statham is game, this could turn out to be a major franchise for the actor. We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out.

And that is, for now, everything we know about A Working Man.