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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, and his crusade for justice after his kind-hearted landlady becomes the victim of a phishing scam that steals millions of dollars from the landlady's charity.

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 became a commercial success by grossing $152.7 million worldwide against a $40 million budget.

Plot

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In rural Massachusetts, Eloise Parker is a retired school teacher living a lonely life, but shares a warm friendship with Adam Clay, a quiet beekeeper living in her barn. Eloise falls for a phishing scam that bankrupts her and steals her life savings, including more than $2 million from her charity. A devastated Eloise shoots herself. Adam discovers her body and is arrested by FBI agent Verona Parker, Eloise's daughter. After being cleared and released, Adam contacts a mysterious group called the Beekeepers to track down the scammers as he wants to exact revenge for Eloise's death.

They trace it to a nearby call center run by Mickey Garnett. Adam storms the call center and burns it down. Mickey's boss Derek Danforth orders Mickey to kill Adam, who dispatches Mickey's men at the barn and amputates some of Mickey's fingers with a bandsaw. Mickey escapes and calls Derek, but is caught and dragged off a bridge by Adam, who threatens Derek over Mickey's phone.

Derek informs Wallace Westwyld, a former CIA director-turned-security director for Derek's tech firm Danforth Enterprises, of Adam's threat. Recognizing Adam as a former Beekeeper, Wallace alerts current CIA director Janet Harward, who dispatches Anisette, an active Beekeeper, to kill him, but Adam repels Anisette's ambush at a gas station near Springfield and burns her to death; the Beekeepers promptly declare neutrality. Wallace organizes an ex-special forces protective team led by Pettis and briefs them on the Beekeepers—an elite clandestine human intelligence organization that operates outside governmental checks and balances, tasked with protecting the United States and the global system, akin to worker policing and how beekeepers maintain bee colonies. Like worker bees, Beekeepers technically continue to work for the organization until death, but Adam considers himself retired and views his pursuit of Derek as personal.

Verona and her partner Matt Wiley, who have been investigating Adam's chaos, anticipate his next target is the Nine Star United Center in Boston, which oversees Derek's global scam call centers. FBI deputy director Jackson Prigg authorizes an FBI SWAT deployment to secure the area, but they are beat there by Pettis's team, who order them out. However, Nine Star executive Rico Anzalone's refusal to obey Pettis and evacuate the Nine Star employees causes confusion that enables Adam to incapacitate the FBI SWAT team, kill Pettis and his men, and interrogate Anzalone. Verona, Wiley and the Boston Police Department arrest Anzalone and the Nine Star employees, but Adam disarms Wiley and escapes. Investigating Nine Star, Verona and Wiley learns that Derek is the son of Jessica Danforth, former Danforth Enterprises CEO and current U.S. President, who they fear Adam will kill next, owing to the behavior of worker bees to kill their queen bee if it produces an "inferior son".

Verona, Wiley and Prigg join the Secret Service Counter Assault Team and Derek's mercenary security detail, led by veteran Beekeeper-killer Lazarus, to secure a party at the Danforths' coastal mansion, where Derek believes he will be safe as Beekeepers would not harm close associates of the President. Adam sneaks in regardless and, after being spotted by Verona, fights his way through mercenaries and CAT agents to reach the Danforths in their office, killing Lazarus in a brutal knife-fight and injuring Wallace when he orders Adam to stand down. Meanwhile, Prigg confronts Derek, who admits to misusing Wallace's CIA algorithms to organize scams and rig Jessica's election by flipping the necessary swing counties in her favor. A horrified Jessica announces that she will expose Derek's crimes to the public even if it adversely affects her position, prompting an enraged Derek to shoot Prigg and take Jessica hostage just as Adam, Verona and Wiley enter the room. When Derek tries to execute Jessica, Adam shoots him, saving her life, and flees through a window. Verona gives chase and holds Adam at gunpoint, but ultimately decides to leave him. Adam retrieves his hidden scuba set at the beach 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 181 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 53 out of 100, based on 36 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. ^ McPolin, Sean (November 1, 2022). "Jason Statham pictured filming for Hollywood film on Kingsferry Bridge". Kent Online. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 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. Archived from the original on December 1, 2024. 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. Archived from the original on March 27, 2024. 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 November 23, 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. ^ Nugent, John (November 1, 2024). "The Beekeeper Review". Empire. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
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