Following The Beekeeper’s critical and commercial success, Jason Statham’s upcoming action thriller holds exciting promise. The Beekeeper cashed in at the box office early this year, more than tripling its estimated $40 million budget for a total $152 million worldwide gross. Albeit far from the highest-grossing movies of Statham’s career, which are often installments of big-name blockbuster franchises, The Beekeeper still achieved impressive accomplishments, including the title of the 13th highest-grossing film of 2024 (as of this writing). Against previous box office hits, like The Meg or Fast X, The Beekeeper also secured Statham’s best Rotten Tomatoes score since 2015.
The Beekeeper, featuring Statham as a retired human intelligence agent seeking vengeance on a covert criminal organization, was regarded well by critics but thoroughly revered by general audiences. While critics rated The Beekeeper with a decent 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences bestowed it with 91%, the highest RT score any Statham movie has received in over a decade. Overall, the film’s critical and commercial reception has proven that the legendary action star still has a lot to give and is an exhilarating precedent for his next action endeavor, Levon’s Trade, scheduled for release January 17, 2025.
What Jason Statham’s Next Movie, Levon’s Trade, Is About
Levon’s Trade Is Based On Chuck Dixon’s Thriller Novel Of The Same Name
Statham isn’t necessarily breaking the mold set by The Beekeeper for his new role in Levon’s Trade, as he will play a former Special Forces operative named Levon Cade who returns to a life of violence for a cause, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. Levon’s Trade will star David Harbour, Jason Flemyng, and Michael Peña alongside Statham’s lead and comes from a screenplay written by action icon Sylvester Stallone. Its premise is based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Chuck Dixon, best known for his seminal work on Marvel and DC comic books.
Assuming the upcoming film aims to stay true to Dixon’s source novel, Levon’s Trade will be a fast-paced and brutal portrayal of Cade’s unsought infiltration of a criminal conspiracy. At the outset of the story, Cade, having left his former profession to live a simple life raising his daughter, is a construction worker. However, when his boss’ daughter goes missing, Cade is called on to recover her and gets caught amid a much larger, darker dilemma. When his involvement threatens to upend the quiet life he built, Cade is led to reawaken the trained killer he once was.
The Beekeeper Makes Levon’s Trade Much More Exciting
Levon’s Trade Reunites Jason Statham With David Ayer
Levon’s Trade is more exciting when considering that it’ll mark a reunion between Statham and The Beekeeper director David Ayer. Ayer is already seasoned in the genre, having worked on several great action entries, such as Birds of Prey, Fury, and End of Watch – but his collaboration with Statham on The Beekeeper puts Levon’s Trade, which he will also direct, at an even better advantage. The high-octane and somewhat identical premise of Levon’s Trade means that Statham and Ayer theoretically shouldn’t have much of a problem recreating or exceeding the critical and commercial success that came out of The Beekeeper.
If The Beekeeper 2 doesn’t ever come to fruition, Levon’s Trade also has a better chance of developing into Statham’s next big action franchise.
Audiences are already primed and ready for a sequel to The Beekeeper, and seeing as it’s yet to be confirmed, Levon’s Trade may be their best option to tide them over in the meantime. If The Beekeeper 2 doesn’t ever come to fruition, Levon’s Trade also has a better chance of developing into Statham’s next big action franchise. Whereas The Beekeeper was an original concept, Levon’s Trade is based on the first of a novel series that Statham and Ayer can continually draw from.