Adam Clay’s world turns upside down in The Beekeeper when his dear friend and neighbor commits suicide. When he discovers she fell victim to a phishing scam, he swears vengeance. However, Clay is no ordinary man as a former member of an elite organization known only as the Beekeepers, he uses his skills to wipe out everyone who was responsible for his friend’s death.
The Beekeepers is directed by David Ayer from a script penned by Kurt Wimmer. The movie stars Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons. Statham, Ayer, and Wimmer all serve as producers of The Beekeeper as well, along with Chris Long and Bill Block.
Where To Watch The Beekeeper: Showtimes & Streaming Status
The Beekeeper is a new action movie directed by David Ayer and starring Jason Statham, and this is where to watch it in theaters or at home.
Screen Rant interviewed David Ayer about how he approached the action in The Beekeeper, the joy of collaborating with Jason Statham, and what advice he would give today’s superhero movies after his experience with Suicide Squad.
David Ayer Talks The Beekeeper
Screen Rant: When I first heard that you and Jason Statham were teaming up together to do a movie, I knew the action was going to be out of this world, and y’all did not disappoint. Can you talk about working with Jason and what he brought to the role of Adam Clay?
David Ayer: Jason was amazing to work with. It’s interesting because he’s an athlete, he’s a martial artist, he’s a fighter, and this is a guy that does all his own stunts. And then on top of it, he knows how the sausage is made. He knows how action is done, and he knows every punch ever thrown in any movie.
When you present action to Jason and you present him choreography… I brought my A-game. He brought his A+ game, so he schooled me on a lot of action. He schooled me, and I really feel like I learned a lot from him.
I love the gas station scene. I don’t want to give too much away, but that scene is absolutely incredible. Would you want to expand the story and world-building with either a prequel with other Beekeepers in their society?
David Ayer: Absolutely. I mean, we cracked the door a little bit on the Beekeepers, and it really connects to this greater mythology. Every society is dependent upon the Beekeepers. No bees, no agriculture, no civilization. None of this would exist without the Beekeeper, which is pretty wild when you think about it. And then I think we always have that dream or that aspiration that maybe there is somebody looking out for us that, when the system fails, they can bring the justice we need.
If the film is the Queen Bee and the production is the hive, as the director, did you have your own Beekeeper moments on set where you had to work to make sure the movie stayed true to the intention of the story?
David Ayer: That’s kind of my job as director; to really steer the ship. And the big thing you do as a director, it’s like tone and performance. And so this was a new tone for me. A lot of my movies are a little more serious and dramatic, and I really wanted an escapist, fun movie.
A lot of movies lately have been heavy and serious, and I wanted to move into more of the action space of the ’90s and the ’80s and the Die Hards and the Lethal Weapons, the movies that made me want to be a director. And I’ll be real. I didn’t know if I could do that, because it’s so different for me. And then I found out, yeah, I can do it, but I can also have a lot of fun doing it too.
As long as the Beekeeper’s breathing, he’s armed. Can you talk about why it’s important for the Beekeeper, Adam Clay, that he doesn’t rely on guns?
David Ayer: Yeah, that’s it. It’s not like a tactical shooter movie. For him, a gun is just a tool. It’s disposable. And it’s not about guns or having guns. And having a character with that kind of action language, where he can turn a paperclip – anything – into a weapon and take dudes out with it is pretty fun. And at a certain point, everyone’s on set just throwing in, “Maybe he uses this. Maybe he uses a laptop. What if he uses a phone? What if he uses a stapler?” So we’re all trying to come up with these amazing ways Jason could bring it.
You worked in the superhero genre at its peak with Suicide Squad. Even though that wasn’t the film you made, what advice would you give to the current crop of superhero storytellers to bring audiences back into theaters?
David Ayer: Oh, man. Run? No.
I think it’s like anything else. It’s character. It’s character. And a lot of superhero movies these days have been really jokey and really silly, and I think we got to go back to the roots, where it was always stories about fixing the world, and it was always stories about outsiders who have maybe been rejected by society, who, no matter what, they got good hearts and they’re going to try and fix things. So I think there’s an amazing new generation of storytellers. There are a lot of new tools out there, and really, they just need permission to tell their stories.
About The Beekeeper
In The Beekeeper, one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers.”
Check out our other interview with Josh Hutcherson.
The Beekeeper
The Beekeeper is a 2024 action-thriller film by director David Ayer. Jason Statham stars as “Mr. Clay,” a former member of a secret organization known as the “Beekeepers,” who steps back into the field after a close friend is wronged in a phishing scam. To set things right, Mr. Clay will wage a violent war as he discovers that the truth behind the scammers may be more sinister than he realized.
- Release Date
- January 12, 2024
- Director
- David Ayer
- Cast
- Jason Statham , Emmy Raver-Lampman , Josh Hutcherson , Bobby Naderi , Minnie Driver , Phylicia Rashad , Jeremy Irons
- Rating
- R
- Genres
- Action , Thriller
- Writers
- Kurt Wimmer
- Studio(s)
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , MiraMax , Cedar Park Studios , Punch Palace Productions
- Distributor(s)
- Amazon MGM Studios
