Jason Statham Returning for ‘The Beekeeper 2’

variety.com:

Angelique Jackson The buzz continues for the beekeeper — with Jason Statham returning to star in “The Beekeeper 2.” The Miramax movie is set to start production in the fall, with “Nobody 2” director Timo Tjahjanto taking the reins from David Ayer, who helmed the first kooky conspiracy thriller, which debuted last January and grossed $152 million worldwide.

Statham stars as Adam Clay, a retired government assassin (a former “Beekeeper” operative turned actual honeycomb minder) who gets back in the game after a phishing attack targets the kindly old woman (Phylicia Rashad) from whom he rents a barn, stealing millions of dollars from a charity she runs.

As Clay goes berserker mode in his quest for vengeance, the film turns into the kind of actioner audiences expect from Statham — with his gruff, baldheaded vigilante leaving a bloody trail in his wake, but ultimately beating the bad guys.

In his review, Variety’s Peter Debruge described “The Beekeeper” as “the best kind of bad movie — which is to say, it’s the sort that puts entertainment ahead of pretentiousness, embracing the laughter sure to accompany such an unapologetically stupid, ultra-violent premise.” He wrote: “Saddled with a ludicrous (but never less than hilarious) script, director David Ayer puts fun ahead of plausibility, treating the Clay character as the ultimate enforcer anytime America’s (imperfect) system of checks and balances needs adjustment.” Statham teased the possibility of a sequel in an interview ahead of the first film’s release, telling Variety, “The whole movie escalates in terms of the action.