Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

David Ayer will direct Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper

Jason Statham’s big-screen characters have done everything from teaming up with other action icons to taking on a Megalodon shark. But Statham’s next character is set to enter the unexpectedly dangerous world of beekeepers. And now, the project has a director. Via Deadline, Suicide Squad helmer David Ayer has signed on to direct The Beekeeper.

According to the report, Miramax is hoping that The Beekeeper can become an action franchise. Deadline calls it a “fast-paced action-thriller, which is steeped in the mythology of beekeeping.” Statham’s character is a man on the path of vengeance with “national stakes.” He is also a former operative of the secret group who call themselves the Beekeepers. Salt screenwriter Kurt Wimmer wrote The Beekeeper on spec and successfully sold it to Miramax last fall.

Recommended Videos

Prior to becoming a director, Ayer wrote the screenplays for Training Day, S.W.A.T., and The Fast and the Furious. His directorial credits include Harsh Times, Street Kings, End of Watch, Sabotage, Fury, and Bright. Ayer’s most recent film was the crime thriller, The Tax Collector.

Jason Statham in Safe.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

As noted by Deadline, both Ayer and Statham have a history at Miramax. Statham starred in Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man and Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre, both of which were produced by Miramax. The studio was also behind Ayer’s Fury.

Miramax’s Bill Block will produce the film. He also shared a statement to confirm the news:

“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.”

There isn’t currently a start date for The Beekeeper. Miramax is reportedly going to shop the film around  “at the upcoming Cannes market.” But it may take a few years before the project hits theaters.

Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
Gerard Butler vs. Jason Statham: Who is the better B-movie action star?
Gerard Butler and Jason Statham hold guns.

What makes a good "B-movie?" B-movies are lower to mid-budget action, horror, or sci-fi films without the profit margins of a blockbuster or the promotion of a major studio movie. I refer to them as "why not" movies. Picture this: You're scrolling Netflix and can't decide what to watch. As you scroll past the superhero adventures and blockbuster films, you stumble on a film with one actor on the poster with a title of one to three words. If it's an action film, the actor is usually holding a gun as they prepare for a revenge mission. This premise is enough to spark your interest, so you say, "Why not," and watch.

This type of B-movie is a lost art form in 2023. The B-movie, especially the action B-movie, dominated the 1990s thanks to Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Dolph Lundgren. Two actors keeping the spirit of the action B-movie alive are Gerard Butler and Jason Statham. These two action stars have headlined some of the most successful B-movies of the 21st century, so naturally, it's time to ask one question: Who is the better B-movie action star?
Their best B-movie roles

Read more
7 best Jason Statham action movies, ranked
Shaw points a gun in The Fate of the Furious.

Jason Statham is one of the greatest action performers of the modern day, and it seems like nothing is impossible when he's on screen. Whether it be hunting down a megalodon or participating in a death race, Statham is an action superstar. Statham got his start in the movie business with 1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The Guy Ritchie movie brought Statham to the limelight and marked one of many collaborations between Ritchie and the actor. Now, 25 years after Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Statham is a household name.

Many of Statham's movies are big, bold, and wild action flicks that, while maybe not the Citizen Kane of action films, are a helluva good time. The actor has a certain skill at portraying hard-shelled action heroes that are capable of superhuman feats. He's a tough guy, and his most successful performances are those that cash in on his over-the-top action-hero bravado. Statham is also an underrated comic, with many of his roles playing off the hilariously insane scenarios his characters tend to find themselves in.

Read more
Jason Statham kicks a giant shark in first trailer for Meg 2
Jason Statham in Meg 2: The Trench.

One of the big issues in the current Hollywood writer's strike is that the WGA wants to set rules so that studios can't start making movies written by AI programs. And yet if there's any film that looks like it was written by a computer, it's Meg 2: The Trench, the sequel to The Meg, a giant prehistoric shark movie that was a modest blockbuster in 2018. Rest assured, all evidence to the contrary, this movie was made by humans. And in the first trailer for the sequel, action star Jason Statham finally gets to kick a shark.

MEG 2: THE TRENCH - OFFICIAL TRAILER

Read more