The Beekeeper hit theaters last weekend, and the new action/thriller flick was helmed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad) and stars Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons. The movie is getting fairly decent reviews and currently stands on Rotten Tomatoes with a 70% critics score and a 94% audience score. In fact, the movie has set a surprising record for Statham. The Beekeeper now has the highest rating of any first entry to a Statham-led franchise. It’s also only one of two franchise starters to earn a “Fresh” rating from critics and the first ever to earn over 90% from audiences.
Statham is known for appearing in franchises with his first starring being The Transporter back in 2002. That film earned a 54% critics score and 73% audience score. Staham’s other franchise starters include Crank (62% critics score, 71% audience score), The Expendables (42% critics score, 64% audience score), The Mechanic (53% critics score, 51% audience score), and The Meg (47% critics score, 44% audience score).
Some standalone films of Statham’s do beat the critics score for The Beekeeper, including The Bank Job (80%), Spy (95%), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (75%), and The Italian Job (72%).
Did Jason Statham Get Stung Making The Beekeeper?During a recent interview with Empire, Ayer revealed Statham never got stung while making the movie.
“The big shock was how much he does his own stunts,” Ayer said of Statham. “His stunt double was just sitting around, hoping to be invited to the dance.” He added, “The crew were laughing: ‘There’s no way you’re putting Jason Statham with a bunch of bees for real!’ But Jason wanted to do it. So, we put him with a beekeeper, and he learned how to open the hive and work with the bees. He connected with the whole ‘zen’ beekeeping things.”
You can read an official description of The Beekeeper here: “In The Beekeeper, one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as ‘Beekeepers.’”
Statham and the film’s writer, Kurt Wimmer (Salt), are set to produce with Bill Block for Miramax and Chris Long for Cedar Park Studios. This reunites Statham with Miramax, who produced Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man and Operature Fortune: Ruse De Guerre.
“Having collaborated with Jason on Wrath Of Man and Operation Fortune, and with David on Fury, we are fortunate to partner with these masters of the new action genre to bring Kurt’s brilliant script to the first installment of this franchise,” Block said in a statement.
The Beekeeper is now playing in theaters.
