MOVIE NEWS – The Beekeeper became a huge box office hit, and the $140 million success could help Jason Statham replace his two biggest action movie franchises…

The Beekeeper became a major box-office success for Jason Statham. This means that it also replaced two of its biggest franchises. Director David Ayer’s action film 2024 hit theatres without expecting it to succeed significantly. However, that’s precisely what happened with The Beekeeper’s box office success, as the lack of competition earlier in the year and the favourable response kept bringing people to see the film. And the result is that Jason Statham has another hit, which could be a financially strong franchise for him again.

Even if nothing is known about The Beekeeper 2 just yet, Statham has essentially built his career on being a part of big franchises.

This is evident from the fact that the films Fast & Furious and Expendables have taken the most time from him in recent years. This included appearing in both in 2023. Even if the revenues of Fast X and Expend4bles fell short of expectations. That means the success of The Beekeeper comes at the best time for the action star. In particular, it helps him finish replacing those two franchises.

With The Beekeeper, Jason Statham can replace the Expendables series

The Beekeeper’s box office success means the film is now considered the successor to Jason Statham’s The Expendables. After playing the role of Lee Christmas in four films, the disastrous performance of Expend4bles killed any hope of continuing the franchise. For Statham, this came at an unfortunate time, given that Expendables 4 had positioned him as the new protagonist of the series.

This meant the actor desperately needed to find a new action franchise to take over from The Expendables after it replaced the Transporter movies.

With The Expendables among his best films, as is The Beekeeper, Statham’s 2024 action film is a natural replacement for the franchise. David Ayer’s film may not have as much 80s nostalgia. But The Beekeeper and The Expendables are in the same genre as throwback action movies, with a slightly more gritty approach. With audiences responding so positively to the original action film, it’s now clearly positioned for a new franchise. As long as Amazon MGM moves forward with plans for The Beekeeper 2.

Can The Meg replace the Fast & Furious series?!

The success of The Beekeeper is also great news for Statham. Because after The Meg, Meg also became a viable franchise for him. The first film was a surprise box office hit in 2018. It has grossed over $500 million worldwide, but Meg 2: The Trenches is also set to gross nearly $400 million in 2023.

As an over-the-top action franchise with high potential for success, The Meg quickly positioned itself as Statham’s way to replace the Fast & Furious franchise.

The Fast & Furious movies are Jason Statham’s biggest blockbusters, but he’s not the star in all of them. Furious 7 and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw made the best and most use of him. However, his future in the franchise is unclear. Not having a bankable blockbuster franchise like Fast & Furious could have been a problem for Statham if The Meg hadn’t already been lined up. Instead of continuing to rely on The Expendables and Fast & Furious, The Beekeeper and The Meg could provide Statham with two new large-scale blockbuster franchises.

Source: Collider