The Beekeeper: Jason Statham's New Franchise

The Rise of The Beekeeper

The financial and critical success of Jason Statham's The Beekeeper is, on one level, exciting for the actor

Jason Statham as Adam Clay in The Beekeeper

– yet the movie's performance may be bad news for another of his action franchises. For over two decades, Statham has been one of the world's leading action stars, revitalizing the genre with his performances in The Transporter and later Fast & Furious movies. However, while his next major project may seem obvious, The Beekeeper's popularity with viewers suggests things aren't as straightforward as they seem. In The Beekeeper, Statham plays the enigmatic Adam Clay – a beekeeper and master hitman who embarks on a twisted revenge mission involving politics, financial fraud, and a secret network of underground operatives. Although its premise is outlandish, critics have generally praised The Beekeeper for its action sequences and enjoyably light-hearted tone. The film's performance is such that it has become Statham's best-reviewed movie since 2015 – a major milestone, considering the huge franchises the actor has been involved in. These positives could ultimately be bad news for fans of another Statham project, The Expendables.

Jason Statham as a Battle-Scarred Adam Clay in The Beekeeper

The combination of a positive critical response and strong box office returns should make The Beekeeper a better bet for Statham's new franchise than The Expendables. Ever since Stallone's reduced role in The Expendables 4, it has been assumed that Statham will step into the breach as the series' leading man. However, the four-quel's disastrous box office performance (making just $51 million against a $100 million budget) and terrible reviews (14% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes) have made the entire franchise's future seem uncertain. By contrast, The Beekeeper has already beaten The Expendables 4's performance just days into its release. Its $16.8 million domestic opening narrowly beat out the $16.7 million The Expendables 4 made over its entire box office run, putting the cult action franchise to shame in the process. When it comes to starting franchises, legacy and proven performance are significant factors. However, despite The Expendables' history of putting together impressive all-star casts, it seems as though audiences are already more invested in The Beekeeper story.

Sylvester Stallone as Barney from The Expendables 4 with Jason Statham in The Beekeeper poster collage

Aside from the evidence that audience interest in The Expendables seems to have run its course, there are some important reasons why future Beekeeper films are a better bet for Statham. For starters, the first Beekeeper movie has already set up several unanswered questions, each of which would add depth to the wider story with a resolution. The nature of The Beekeepers' organization has the potential to turn the saga into a series akin to John Wick, with its covert society of highly-trained combatants. There's also the fact that, while legacy franchises still command a lot of power, innovative projects that add something new to the action genre can be even more popular with audiences. Again, John Wick is a prime example of a series that started with little fanfare, yet exploded to become one of the biggest IPs in Hollywood. While it's unclear whether The Beekeeper could achieve similar success, its performance compared to The Expendables suggests that it's in a better position to do so than some of Statham's other projects.

Statham and Stallone from Expendables 4