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The Beekeeper (2024 film)

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The Beekeeper
A bald bearded man in a heavy beekeeper jacket surrounded by bees. The image is in only black and yellow.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Ayer
Written byKurt Wimmer
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyGabriel Beristain
Edited byGeoffrey O'Brien
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byAmazon MGM Studios
Release date
  • January 12, 2024 (2024-01-12)
Running time
105 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million
Box office$152.7 million

The Beekeeper is a 2024 American action thriller film directed by David Ayer and written by Kurt Wimmer. It stars Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Phylicia Rashad, Jemma Redgrave, and Jeremy Irons. The film follows a retired clandestine human intelligence operative who sets out for revenge after his kind-hearted landlady becomes the victim of a phishing scam that steals millions of dollars from a charity she runs.

The Beekeeper was released in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures on January 12, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews and grossed $152.7 million worldwide against a $40 million budget.

Plot

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Retired school teacher Eloise Parker lives a lonely life but shares a warm friendship with Adam Clay, who lives in her barn and quietly occupies himself with work as a beekeeper. Eloise falls for a phishing scam that bankrupts her and steals her life savings, including more than $2 million from a charity she runs. Devastated, she shoots herself. Adam discovers her body and is arrested by FBI agent Verona Parker, Eloise's daughter. After being cleared and released, he contacts a mysterious group called the Beekeepers for information that will help him find the people responsible and seek justice for Eloise; after some searching, they give Adam an address for a call center run by Mickey Garnett.

Adam storms the call center and burns it down. Mickey's boss Derek Danforth instructs Mickey to kill Adam, who easily kills Mickey's men and cuts off some of Mickey's fingers with a bandsaw. Mickey escapes and calls Derek to warn him that Adam is a Beekeeper, but he is ambushed by Adam, who kills him by tying him to his own car and sending it driving off a bridge. He picks up Mickey's phone and warns Derek that he is the next target. Derek informs Wallace Westwyld, a former CIA director, who is running security for Danforth Enterprises. Wallace contacts current CIA director Janet Harward, who learns that Adam is a retired Beekeeper. She sends Anisette, a current Beekeeper, to kill him.

Anisette tries to kill Adam at a gas station, but he defeats her in a fight and burns her to death. The Beekeepers declare neutrality. Verona and her partner Matt Wiley anticipate that Adam's next target is the Nine Star United Center in Boston, which oversees Derek's global scam call centers. Wallace gathers a group of ex-special forces personnel and briefs them that the Beekeepers are a highly-skilled and dangerous clandestine human intelligence organization, tasked with protecting the United States while operating above and beyond governmental jurisdiction. Derek's refusal to evacuate the Nine Star employees causes confusion that enables Adam to defeat the FBI's SWAT team, infiltrate the building, and wipe out Wallace's men.

Verona informs FBI deputy director Jackson Prigg that Adam will attempt to kill Derek but may also target Derek's mother, U.S. president Jessica Danforth, due to Derek using the funds from his scam operation to finance her election campaign. At Jessica's beachside mansion, Wallace hires a group of mercenaries to take down Adam, who manages to infiltrate the mansion, while Jessica learns the truth about Derek's illegal activities. Adam kills the mercenaries, while Jessica decides to reveal Derek's scamming activities to the world. An enraged Derek kills Jackson and attempts to kill Jessica, but Adam shoots him in the head and escapes. Despite having a clear shot at Adam, Verona decides not to shoot him, and he acknowledges her with a nod before fleeing to the beach. He digs up the scuba diving gear he had hidden, puts it on, and disappears into the sea.

Cast

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Production

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In August 2021, it was announced that Jason Statham would star in the film for Miramax and would also serve as a producer through his company Punch Palace Productions.[2] David Ayer signed on to direct in May 2022.[3]

Principal photography ran in England from September to December 2022.[4][5] Locations included Tyringham Hall[6] and the Kingsferry Bridge.[7] In preparation for the film's opening scenes, Statham learned several methods of beekeeping and interacted with real bees.[8]

Release

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MGM acquired the film's distribution rights in the United States in August 2022.[5] In February 2023, Sky Cinema acquired the rights in the United Kingdom, with StudioCanal handling the U.K. theatrical release on behalf of Sky Cinema.[9] It was released by Amazon MGM Studios on January 12, 2024.[10][11]

The Beekeeper was released on VOD and digital platforms on January 30, 2024, followed by a release on DVD, Blu-ray & UHD Blu-ray on April 23, 2024.[12][13]

Reception

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Box office

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The Beekeeper grossed $66.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $86.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $152.7 million,[14] against a budget of "$40 million or less".[15]

In the United States and Canada, The Beekeeper was released alongside Mean Girls and The Book of Clarence, and was projected to gross $17–19 million from 3,303 theaters in its opening weekend.[16] It made $6.7 million on its first day, including $2.4 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $16.6 million, finishing second behind Mean Girls.[17] The film made $8.5 million in its second weekend and $6.7 million in its third weekend, remaining in second at the box office.[18][19] It spent its first eight weeks in the Top 10 at the domestic box office.[20]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 184 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Cheerfully undemanding and enjoyably retrograde, The Beekeeper proves that when it comes to dispensing action-thriller justice, Statham hasn't lost his sting."[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[23]

A review in The Guardian says the non-shooting scenes are rushed and both Rashad and Driver are underused, and describes it as "a solid, low-stakes, medium-reward new year's effort".[24] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert praised the film's various aspects, including its range of villains, but regretted: "It's a real shame that The Beekeeper isn't the righteous trash masterpiece that it keeps threatening to turn into."[25] John Nugent of Empire magazine said that Statham is "as gruffly convincing as he usually is (though it’s 20 minutes before he’s even allowed to kick any ass)" but called the action scenes "horribly inconsistent" and noted that "you do have to put up with quite a lot of stuff about bees".[26]

References

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  1. ^ "The Beekeeper (15)". BBFC. December 15, 2023. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  2. ^ D'Alessandro, Alexander (August 27, 2021). "Jason Statham To Star In Miramax's 'The Bee Keeper'". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  3. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (May 5, 2022). "'Suicide Squad' Filmmaker David Ayer To Direct Jason Statham In Miramax's Action Pic 'The Beekeeper' — Cannes Market Hot Package". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 18, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  4. ^ "2022 film and high-end TV productions shooting in the UK: latest updates". Screen Daily. December 6, 2022. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Wiseman, Andreas (August 31, 2022). "Jason Statham-David Ayer Action Pic 'The Beekeeper' Pre-Bought By MGM For U.S. & Some Of International". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Morton, Dennis (October 21, 2023). "Video shows Jason Statham filming blockbuster movie in small Milton Keynes village". Edinburgh News. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  7. ^ "Jason Statham pictured on set of Hollywood movie". Kent Online. November 1, 2022. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  8. ^ Mathai, Jeremy (January 15, 2024). "There's Nothing Fake About The Bees In Jason Statham's The Beekeeper". Slashfilm. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  9. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (February 20, 2023). "Jason Statham-David Ayer Action Film 'The Beekeeper' Sells To UK". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  10. ^ Hipes, Patrick (October 4, 2023). "The Beekeeper Trailer: Jason Statham And David Ayer Action Movie Flying Toward January Release". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 11, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  11. ^ White, James (April 10, 2023). "Jason Statham Proves Vengeance Stings In The Beekeeper Trailer". Empire. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  12. ^ Brueggemann, Tom (February 5, 2024). "From Migration to The Beekeeper, VOD Charts Suggest Viewers Are Willing to Wait for Lower Rental Prices". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  13. ^ DeVore, Britta (March 6, 2024). "Have You Heard the Buzz? 'The Beekeeper' Is Coming to 4K UHD Blu-ray". Collider. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  14. ^ "The Beekeeper". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 20, 2024.Edit this at Wikidata
  15. ^ Brueggemann, Tom (January 14, 2024). "'Mean Girls' Drives $100 Million Box Office Weekend, but It May Be the Last One Until March". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  16. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (January 10, 2024). "Box Office: Mean Girls Aims for Grool $30 Million Over Holiday Weekend". Variety. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  17. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 14, 2024). "Winter Storm Gerri Doesn't Cramp 'Mean Girls' Style As Musical Heads For $32M Opening – Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  18. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 20, 2024). "'Mean Girls' Has Edge During First Weak Weekend Of 2024 – Saturday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  19. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 29, 2024). "'Mean Girls' Smacks Down 'Beekeeper' After Fierce Battle During Weak Weekend – Monday Box Office Update". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  20. ^ "The Beekeeper | Domestic Weekly". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  21. ^ "The Beekeeper". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 22, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  22. ^ "The Beekeeper". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  23. ^ Murphy, J. Kim (January 13, 2024). "Box Office: 'Mean Girls' So Fetch With $11.6 Million Opening Day, 'Beekeeper' Buzzing in Second". Variety. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  24. ^ Lee, Benjamin (January 11, 2024). "The Beekeeper review – Jason Statham's John Wick is serviceable schlock". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  25. ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (January 11, 2024). "The Beekeeper movie review & film summary (2024)". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  26. ^ "The Beekeeper". Empire. November 1, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
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