After saying goodbye to his fellow action stars with the recently released Expend4bles, it’s time for Jason Statham to join a new organization with The Beekeeper. MGM shared the first trailer for David Ayer’s upcoming action thriller that shows the star on a quest for revenge against the company behind a phishing scam. As a former member of the powerful and clandestine organization known as The Beekeepers, no mission he conducts will be without national stakes. It’s quickly revealed that the corruption goes all the way to the top, and he’s here to keep the hive in check.
Before he enacts bloody vengeance, Statham’s character was a literal beekeeper helping an older woman tend to her hives and bring life back to the land around her home. When she falls victim to a phishing scam, however, she loses everything and takes her own life. A grief-stricken Statham responds by burning down one of the company’s headquarters in the name of the woman he saw as family. The operation is far bigger than some low-rate scammers, but the big bosses at the top also realize they’re dealing with no ordinary man. Statham’s character is a classic rogue action hero as a former member of an organization that played by its own rules outside any military or police operations to keep everything in the country in balance.
In case Meg 2: The Trench or Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre wasn’t enough bombastic Statham action for audiences, The Beekeeper promises even more. That means plenty of high-octane shootouts and close-quarters combat coupled with more ridiculous scenes like tying a bad guy to a car as it careens off of a bridge or using honey to light someone on fire. As he kills his way up the chain, it’s clear the scam reaches all the way to the top of the government itself, and it’s up to him to root out the corruption even if it means taking on the FBI and other U.S. operatives.
Who’s Involved in Making ‘The Beekeeper’?
Ayer’s latest marks his first collaboration with Statham, but he’s no stranger to working with big action stars or franchises. He’s well known for writing and directing the first Suicide Squad film as well as the starry Fury, but he’s also worked with Statham’s Expendables mate Arnold Schwarzenegger before on the action crime thriller Sabotage. For The Beekeeper, Ayer re-teamed with Street Kings co-writer Kurt Wimmer who penned the screenplay.
Working opposite Statham is Oscar winner Jeremy Irons who’s fresh off an appearance in DC’s The Flash as well as The Cello with Tobin Bell. Joining them is a strong supporting group including The Umbrella Academy alum Emmy Raver-Lampman alongside Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, and Phylicia Rashad.
The Beekeeper arrives in theaters on January 12. Check out the trailer below.