Jason Statham is going to be taking a break from punching a giant shark in the face to keep bees. The upcoming revenge thriller from David Ayer – The Beekeeper – will feature the bald bomber as Mr. Clay, a former operative of a secretive organization The Beekeepers. In a stunning piece of irony, the character is also a keen beekeeper.
In reality, this meant Statham got to dabble in a bit of light apiarist action himself. It turns out, he was happy to get involved.
In an interview with Empire Magazine for their 2024 Preview edition, director David Ayer spoke about working with Staham:
“The big shock was how much he does his own stunts. His stunt double was just sitting around, hoping to be invited to the dance. The crew were laughing: ‘There’s no way you’re putting Jason Statham with a bunch of bees for real!’ But Jason wanted to do it. So, we put him with a beekeeper, and he learned how to open the hive and work with the bees. He connected with the whole ‘Zen’ beekeeping things.”
It turns out he has a talent for it, so much so he didn’t get so much as a sting. Ayer says:
“Jason did not get stung, I got stung pretty bad shooting bees later on. But it was fine. You make a movie called The Beekeeper, you’re gonna get stung.”
The movie co-stars Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the distribution rights in the United States and some international territories in August 2022. In February 2023, Sky Cinema acquired the rights in the United Kingdom. It is scheduled to be released under MGM’s Amazon MGM Studios banner on January 12th, 2024 in conventional theaters and in Dolby Cinema and IMAX.
The Beekeeper will be released on January 12th 2024
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