The Beekeeper
Summary
Jason Statham ’s next picture afterThe Beekeepercan break a streak of bad circumstances he ’s had with adapting novels . After his breakout roles in Guy Ritchie ’s early work , Statham move swiftly into military action movies . To the shock of many , he mildew himself into a modern - day legal action mavin in the vein of Sylvester Stallone or Jean - Claude Van Damme , during a clip when CGI - heavy megahit shrunk the market for those types of flick . Despite some misses along the path , Jason Statham ’s movieshave proven systematically popular for over 20 years and counting .
Statham’sBeekeeperis one of the biggest solo hitsof his career and is likely to receive a sequel . Statham will reunite withBeekeeperdirector David Ayer andExpendablesco - star Stallone onLevon ’s Tradefor his next project . The whizz will dally Levon Cade , a retired special intelligence agent who returns to his former work when his foreman ' girl is kidnapped . Levon ’s Tradesounds like Statham is remakinghis past work in many ways , but it has all the ingredients to keep his winning run -Expendables 4asides - going .
Jason Statham’s Levon’s Trade Can Break His Bad Luck With Novel Adaptations
Statham hasn’t had much luck with potential franchises based on books
Levon ’s Tradeis establish on a series of novel by source Chuck Dixon , so if the first film is a success , there ’s plenty of author cloth for a sequel . The star and his team are no doubt aware of this , butLevon ’s Tradecan wear Statham ’s poor luck when it comes to build a franchise around a Holy Scripture character . He ’s hear this many times in the past , and the outcome are ( almost ) always the same . The first was 2011’sBlitz , base on a novel by Ken Bruen .
This cast Statham as Breun ’s recurring character Brant , a London detective who chases after a killer who point policeman . Blitzdid respectable byplay internationally , but went flat to videodisc in the States , killing any sequel Bob Hope . Statham ’s next dealership non - starter wasParker , base on the hard - boil novel by the late Donald E. Westlake . Despite Bob Hope the 2013 version would kick off a run ofParker movies , the film flame out at $ 47 million , just about cover its output budget ( viaBox Office Mojo ) .
The surprisal activeness hit The Beekeeper generated spate of sequel bombination , and now the Jason Statham series continues in The Beekeeper 2 .
Stallone ’s first endeavor to make a series for his action heir apparent was 2013’sHomefront , based on the Bible by Chuck Logan . Stallone originally pennedHomefrontas aRambosequelbut later rewrote it as a straight - ahead adaptation , where Statham ’s strike out DEA agent Phil Broker and his girl are targeted by local drug dealers . Homefrontreceived tepid reviews but performed respectably- just not enough to wind up people about a direct sequel .
Why Statham’s Previous Adaptations Failed To Launch Franchises
Most of these Statham movies took the wrong approach
Every Jason Statham Movie found On A Book
Original Book Title
Blitz(2011 )
Custom image by Simone Ashmoore
Blitz(2002 )
Ken Bruen
Killer Elite(2011 )
The Feather Men(1991 )
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Parker(2013 )
Flashfire(2000 )
Donald E. Westlake
Homefront(2013 )
Homefront(2005 )
Chuck Logan
Wild Card(2015 )
Heat(1985 )
William Goldman
The Meg(2018 )
Meg : A Novel of Deep Terror(1997 )
Steve Alten
1000000 2 : The Trench(2023 )
The Trench(1999 )
All of these Statham adjustment took a popular Christian Bible type and endeavor to model them around his action persona , but they all made key mistakes . Blitzfeatured a great cast ( including Aiden Gillen , Paddy Considine and Zawe Ashton ) , but it was basically an ITV detective drama with a bigger budget . Once the credit pluck onBlitz , it feels like the story is done . The moving-picture show at least give Statham a small more heart and soul to jaw on , case - wise .
Parkertook one of lit ’s best anti - Hero , sandpaper off his unsmooth edges and made a bland thrillerwith forgettable activity scene . Outside of the film cobalt - starring Jennifer Lopez , there ’s little challenging about the film , and its underperformance sealed off any chances for a follow - up . Homefrontmade the erroneousness of adapting the lastPhil Brokernovel , making it feel like theendof a franchise , not the first .
OtherParkeradaptations include 1967’sPoint Blankstarring Lee Marvin , The Outfitwith Robert Duvall and Mel Gibson’sPayback .
On that last point , Levon ’s Tradewill start from the commencement of Dixon’sLevon Cadeseries . This will at least give future movies a piazza to build towards , and consume collaborators like Ayer and Stallone wo n’t hurt its odds either .
Statham’s Only Literary Success Was WAY Outside His Comfort Zone
Horror movies aren’t usually Statham’s cup of tea
Levon ’s Tradewill be Jason Statham ’s fourth attempt to flex a serial publication of thriller leger into a movie enfranchisement , so hopefully , it will get across this time . His track disc might be scratchy , butit would n’t be fair to claim Statham ’s refreshing adjustment have all failed since there ’s one elephantine elision : The Megmovies . These adapted Steve Alten ’s novels and regorge Statham as rescue diver Jonas , who battles against the nominal giant sharks .
Statham horror moving picture are fairly uncommon - outside of John Carpenter’sGhosts of Mars , naturally - so starring inThe Megwas outside the actor ’s solace zone . They ’re big - budget , PG-13 blockbusters that take a sci - fi / horror approach , unlike the gritty trappings ofBlitz , Parkeror even recent hit likeThe Beekeeper . It was a risk that paid off though , take the success of the first two entries . It ’s doubtfulLevon ’s Tradewill hit the same numbers asThe Megthough .
Source : Box Office Mojo
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