A blockbuster that features action-packed stunts filmed in Kent is headed to cinemas.
The Beekeeper, starring Lock Stock’s Jason Statham and Josh Hutcherson of The Hunger Games, features scenes of the Kingsferry Bridge, between Sheppey and Sittingbourne.
During the two days of filming in October 2022 a truck was seen flying off the bridge – which was closed to the public – before being retrieved from the water.
Jet skis were also captured racing through the waters in some incredible up-close drone footage of the movie, which is out tomorrow (Friday, January 12).
Hollywood hardman Statham, who appears as the lead in the action thriller, was pictured at the time in a brown coat walking along the bridge.
Directed by David Ayer, The Beekeeper follows a man’s brutal campaign for vengeance after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organisation known as The Beekeepers.
Known for playing tough, male characters, Statham has starred in films such as The Expendables alongside Sylvester Stallone and Eric Roberts.
He was an untrained unknown when director Guy Ritchie cast him as a con artist in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. He more recently starred in Ritchie’s Wrath of Man.
The shoot was also coordinated by the Kent Film Office and produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Miramax.
Sky has picked up UK distribution rights for the film which, after appearing in cinemas, will feature on Sky Cinema.
The trailer for the film shows the scene that was shot on the Kingsferry Bridge.
It shows Statham’s character using a ratchet strap to tie a man to a vehicle before it drives off the open bascule bridge into the water below.
The Kingsferry Bridge opened in 1960.
It was built by British Rail at a time when ships kept hitting the old, now demolished, bridge and cutting off the Island.
The latest episodes of TV hits such as The Crown and Call the Midwife and new drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office have pumped £1.75m into the economy, the Kent Film Office has revealed.
When The Beekeeper was filmed, in 2022, the county had a bumper year on the silver screen.
Kent was also used to film scenes for Mission Impossible and Empire of Light that year.