I’m surprised it has taken this long for a sequel to The Beekeeper to be announced. Jason Statham’s latest action thriller The Beekeeper hit theaters on January 12, 2024, and became a surprise box office hit, earning $152.7 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $40 million. While The Beekeeper doesn’t scratch the surface of Statham’s biggest blockbuster performances in the Fast & Furious franchise, it still generated impressive margins. With numbers like these, combined with the overwhelming praise from fans resulting in a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s hard to imagine that The Beekeeper 2 isn’t already in the works.
As of July 2024, The Beekeeper is the fifteenth highest-grossing film domestically ($66.2 million), finishing right under Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ($67.2 million) and Civil War ($68.7 million). With a sharp runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes and an explicit R-rating, The Beekeeper impressively soared past the opening weekend totals of Statham’s popular 2021 heist movie Wrath of Man. The Beekeeper racked up roughly $16.6 million in its opening weekend period compared to Wrath of Man’s $8.3 million. With a great director in David Ayer and a strong action screenwriter in Kurt Wimmer, I can’t believe a Beekeeper franchise hasn’t been launched yet.
The Beekeeper Was Successful Enough To Get A Sequel Made
It earned nearly double the box office of the first John Wick movie
The Beekeeper was much more of a box office hit than the original John Wick , which earned just under $88 million against a budget of $30 million.
Statham’s Adam Clay protagonist in The Beekeeper is full of his typically admirable grit and no-nonsense charm that has been displayed in dozens of his previous films, including classics like The Transporter (2002), The Italian Job (2003), Crank (2006), The Mechanic (2011), and Spy (2015). The Beekeeper also delivers a brand new concept and story world for Statham to expand on his impressive filmography rather than tossing him another unnecessary franchise movie. This is exactly why The Beekeeper needs to become a franchise because, similar to John Wick, the sequels can only go up from here.
The modern vengeance-fueled action thriller has proven to be incredibly portable for the John Wick franchise, which grossed a total of $1.02 billion across four critically acclaimed sequels against a combined production budget of $245 million. Statham has just as much star power in the action genre as Reeves does, making a Beekeeper sequel an absolute no-brainer. In fact, The Beekeeper was much more of a box office hit than the original John Wick, which earned just under $88 million against a budget of $30 million. John Wick’s box office didn’t really go off until its sequel was released three years after the original.
Jason Statham & David Ayer Both Have Interest In The Beekeeper 2
Both recognize the potential for a new action franchise
Both Statham and Ayer are more than willing to team up again for The Beekeeper 2. Ayer recently commented on the massive potential to expand The Beekeeper into a franchise. “We cracked the door a little bit into the Beekeeper world, and I would love to learn more about them. I’m extremely curious: Where do they come from? Who are they? How do they operate? What happened in the system? It’s just an amazing mythology. There’s so much room to explore.” The Beekeeper 2 could theoretically be released in 2027, which would come at the perfect time especially since the John Wick franchise looks to be nearing its end.
Statham is already a crucial part of three massive franchises, The Expendables, The Meg, and Fast & Furious. It may very well be that someone as in demand as him may want to keep some of his options open for the possibility that future sequels to those highly profitable franchises may come about. Statham may be less inclined to participate in the creative toll of building a new action franchise from the ground up, considering he is already deeply ingrained in three of the most profitable franchises in modern cinematic history. He is set to appear in Fast X: Part 2 as Deckard Shaw in 2026.
Statham & Ayer Are Making A Different Action Movie Instead Of The Beekeeper 2
Levon’s Trade is based on a screenplay written by Sylvester Stallone
Levon’s Trade is expected to be released almost exactly one year after The Beekeeper was released, which will likely make it somewhat of a spiritual sequel to the 2024 hit.
Interestingly, Statham and Ayer are teaming up for another project expected to be released in 2025. Statham leads a strong cast in Levon’s Trade which also features performances from David Harbour, Michael Peña, Sophie Craig, and Jason Flemyng. Levon’s Trade is expected to be released almost exactly one year after The Beekeeper was released, which will likely make it somewhat of a spiritual sequel to the 2024 hit. Levon’s Trade is also based on an adapted screenplay written by Sylvester Stallone, so it makes sense why Ayer and Statham would want to collaborate on the first screenplay Stallone has written in years.
Levon’s Trade follows Statham’s Levon Cade, who leaves his dark past behind to try and live a simple life working construction and being a good father to his daughter. Cade forces himself into action after his boss’s teenage daughter Jenny mysteriously vanishes and he is called upon to use his expert black ops skills to track down Jenny and make those responsible pay. Similar to The Beekeeper, Levon’s Trade also features a criminal conspiracy organization and a hunt for vengeance, which could essentially make it the equivalent of The Beekeeper sequel under a slightly altered title and premise.
I Still Want To See The Beekeeper 2 Happen
Statham needs a fresh new action franchise
Even though Levon’s Trade sounds awesome and could be an even better version of The Beekeeper with an enhanced screenplay and supporting cast, I still selfishly want The Beekeeper sequel to be greenlit. While Statham has all sorts of potential to take over the Expendables franchise and keep churning out more Meg movies, what he really needs is a fresh new franchise that doesn’t feel overdone or unoriginal, which is exactly what The Beekeeper offers him. If Levon’s Trade proves to be just as big of a box office hit as The Beekeeper was, then a sequel would seem inevitable
The seeds are already planted for The Beekeeper to become Statham’s next franchise. He and Ayer are collaborating on two projects in two years, his box office numbers still prove he’s at the top of his game, and his current franchises are either fading out or are arguably getting too old. Fans love The Beekeeper and will likely come back to see the sequel in droves. Simply put, there are too many positives for The Beekeeper sequel not to happen, especially in this modern-day declining worldwide box office.