The Beekeeper is now the highest-grossing film of 2024. Granted, that title won’t last long since the Jason Statham film has only grossed less than $130 million worldwide, but many dismissed the David Ayer vehicle as a lazy and cheap cash grab meant to occupy the dead January space. What’s even more shocking is that it beat Mean Girls, a well-known brand that’s based on an iconic film in the modern generation as the updated feature has only amassed $92.7 million worldwide.
The Beekeeper only has a production budget of $25 million, so it easily made more than three times more than it cost. Exactly what’s making The Beekeeper such a surprise success? A big part of that is due to the lack of releases in January. However, given the prices of ticket sales, audiences tend to be pickier about what they go to the movie to see. Here are several reasons why The Beekeeper became a sleeper hit.
Jason Statham Is A International Star
Jason Statham’s box office can be hit or miss. The actor is fresh off The Expendables 4, a commercial and critical failure. Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre also crashed and burned at the box office. However, Statham is a star because he has more hits under his belt. What’s noticeable about the 56-year-old is that he gets more love overseas and is a big reason that movies like The Beekeeper have been such a hot commodity in theaters.
Statham has six films that have made over $500 million worldwide: Furious 7 ($1.5 billion), Fast and Furious 8 ($1.2 billion), Hobbs & Shaw ($1.1 billion), Fast 9 (726.2 million), Fast X (714.6 million), and The Meg (530.2 million). The actor skyrocketed his popularity thanks to his Transporter films and has been one of the most consistent action stars of the modern generation.
Though Statham’s films aren’t always a critical darling, the actor’s presence tends to be the highlight of said films. Plus, his action scenes are a must-watch. It helps that Statham’s career is relatively controversy-free; he doesn’t make his political affiliation a part of his character and has mainly kept a low profile about his private life.
The Beekeeper Scratches An Old-School Action Itch
The Beekeeper is far from a perfect film. In fact, several plot holes force you to turn off your brain for a bit. However, the Jason Statham is simply fun, which should always be the purpose of action vehicles of this nature. This is why The Expendables was such a hit in the beginning; Sylvester Stallone wisely tapped into school action films and banked off fun nostalgia uniting some of the best action names during that period.
David Ayer himself stated that The Beekeeper was a homage to 80’s and 90’s action movies and audiences are enjoying some of that nostalgic feel. Action has greatly evolved since then, with most action films adapting The Raid and John Wick‘s style of filmmaking, so it’s refreshing that an action vehicle isn’t copying the new trend that most films are currently following.
More importantly, the film is a solid watch from beginning to end. Fans want something worth the expensive ticket prices. Given the current economy and how greedy the theater owners have become, if a movie doesn’t feel worthy of seeing in theaters then the masses will simply wait to watch it on streaming.
The Suicide Squad Controversy
David Ayer has made it no secret that he’s frustrated with the final product of Suicide Squid. In fact, the filmmaker finally gave up on the possibility that an Ayer cut would ever be released. It’s doubtful that fans felt bad for him and opted to purchase the film out of sympathy, but Ayer continuously talking about the DC film put his name in headlines.
Though he goes into detail about his issues with Warner Brothers Discovery, the whole purpose of his promotional tour was for The Beekeeper. The more his name was in the spotlight, the more audiences knew the scheduled date of his latest film. Ayer isn’t particularly a Nolan-level filmmaker outside of Suicide Squad. Though he’s a director with a few gems like End of Watch and Fury, the latter is his highest-grossing film outside of the DC film at $211 million worldwide.
The Suicide Squad name alone is a huge draw. Ayer’s version collected an astonishing $747 million worldwide. Ayer discussing his experiences will get clicks and views, and in turn, keep him and his current film in the spotlight. The Beekeeper may not be getting Wonka levels of money, but it’s important to have low-budget features like this and Godzilla Minus One did well at the box office. It sends the message that not every film needs to be some high-octane blockbuster and in the case of The Beekeeper, it maintains that originality is still valuable in the current market.
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