Amazon MGM Studios has scooped up the global rights to “The Beekeeper 2,” shelling out what Deadline says is well north of $50 million— because apparently, revenge stories featuring Jason Statham never go out of style.
Statham is back in action for the sequel, which begins filming this fall. This time around, Timo Tjahjanto (“Nobody 2”) will take the director’s chair, working from a script by Kurt Wimmer. Miramax is once again producing and handling the deal with Amazon.
The original ‘Beekeeper,’ directed by David Ayer, centered on a former black-ops agent who goes full vigilante after his sweet old landlady gets scammed out of her charity’s millions. It went on to make a respectable $163M globally after Miramax sold it internationally and teamed up with Amazon for the U.S. release.
Statham will once again don his trademark scowl and gravelly one-liners, proving there’s no action franchise he won’t punch his way back into— the world just can’t get enough of bald vengeance in a leather jacket. Whether he’s a beekeeper, a transporter, or some rogue ex-special-forces-agent-who-definitely-has-a-dark-past, Statham delivers exactly what you expect: grim determination, excessive neck-snapping, and a complete inability to smile.
“Row K” acquired “Poetic License” out of TIFF last year, but Sony Pictures Classics has now stepped in and picked up the film. According to Variety, SPC is planning a release next year.