Viewers who enjoyedA Working Manshould also check out Jason Statham in 2013 action gemHomefront. After working with him onThe Expendablesfranchise, Statham has become firm friends with Sylvester Stallone. It’s possible Stallone saw the British star as a successor to his action crown, as he has developed several projects for Statham outside ofThe Expendables.Stallone co-wrote and producedA Working Manfor Statham in 2025, a box office hit that adapted the novelLevon’s Trade.
There is hope thatA Working Mancould become anotherJason Statham action franchise, though time will tell if a sequel comes together. It’s not the first time Stallone has developed a thriller for Statham to front, with that honor going toHomefront.Stallone originally developedHomefrontas a potential fourthRambo,and this 2013 thriller cast Statham as a retired DEA agent living peacefully with his daughter - until he makes an enemy of a local meth dealer. Punching, kicking and gunfire soon follow.
Homefront & A Working Man Have A Fair Amount In Common
Homefront is practically a prequel to A Working Man
A Working ManandHomefrontfeel quite similar on a surface level, and those comparisons only run deeper upon further inspection. Both movies are based on long-running thriller series, withA Working Manadapting theLevon Cadebooks by Chuck Dixon, whileHomefrontbrings author Chuck Logan’s Phil Broker novels to life. In both instances,Stallone acquired the rights to these novels to develop for himself, only to rework them as vehicles for Statham.
A Working ManandHomefrontalso cast Statham as a widowed father whose violent past catches up to him as he is trying to raise a young daughter. A key difference is thatHomefrontmakes Broker’s relationship with his daughter a major subplot, while Levon’s daughter doesn’t get much screentime inA Working Man.Homefrontis the more grounded of the two, withA Working Man’saction becoming more outlandish and over the top as the story progresses.
Sylvester Stallone ultimately rejectedHomefrontas a potentialRambo 4because he felt the character wasn’t ready to return to America yet. Sly also had trouble accepting that Rambo would have a child.
Both movies laid the foundation to become new franchises, thoughthe muted responseHomefrontreceived meant a sequel didn’t follow. There are plenty of otherLevon Cadenovels a future sequel could adapt, thoughA Working Manalso received a mixed response (it sits at49% on Rotten Tomatoes). Audiences hoped for another action thriller on par with Statham and director David Ayer’s previous collaboration,The Beekeeper, but their new film lacked the same skillful blend of action and dark comedy.
A Working Man & Homefront Are Both Written By Sylvester Stallone
Stallone’s penmanship is all over these two Jason Statham action films
Stallone is obviously best known as an action star, but fans might be shocked to learn how many films he’s written. Stallone is credited as a writer on 25 movies, including most of theRockyandRambosagas and hisSaturday Night Feversequel,Staying Alive. He even penned the novelizations for some of his movies, includingParadise Alley. Even on films where he’s not credited, Stallone is said to have had a hand in their screenplays, butHomefrontand A Working Man mark the rare times that Sly wrote a script he didn’t star in.
Sylvester Stallone also knows how to write to Statham’s strengths as an actor, so while he plenty of people to punch, both scripts show off the star’s more emotional side…
Stallone’s gift for combining action and characterization - not to mention memorable one-liners - is all over both projects. That might be whyHomefrontcould attract such a solid cast, including Winona Ryder, Frank Grillo and Kate Bosworth. The advantage of adapting a book is that a screenwriter already has a story foundation and fleshed-out characters to work with, even if a lot of details end up being changed.A Working Manis quite different in tone fromLevon’s Trade, for instance.
Broadly speaking, the plot is familiar and many of the same characters appear, but Stallone has punched up the action considerably.IfLevon’s Trade reads like a dark vigilante thriller from the 1970s,A Working Manis closer in feel toThe Beekeeper. Stallone also knows how to write to Statham’s strengths as an actor, so while he gets plenty of people to punch, both scripts show off the star’s more emotional side, too.
Homefront
Cast
Homefront follows former DEA agent Phil Broker, who, after a tragic mission, retires to a quiet town with his daughter. As he faces off against a local drug lord, his past troubles resurface, leading to a high-stakes confrontation as he aims to protect his family.
A Working Man
A Working Man follows Levon Cade, a former black ops soldier, as he navigates a quiet life working in construction. Upon the abduction of his boss’s daughter by human traffickers, Cade embarks on a mission to rescue her, uncovering a vast network of corruption in the process.
