Jason Statham’s success in 2024 makes a strong case for bringing him back for another sequel to one of the earliest blockbuster action movie franchises of his career. Statham is one of the last remaining bona fide movie stars who can draw crowds out to theaters based on their star power alone. For the past two decades, Statham has been one of the most reliable action movie stars in Hollywood. His films can’t be counted on to obey the laws of physics, but they can be counted on to provide two hours of thrilling high-octane entertainment.
In the past few years, Statham has been called on to take over the Expendables and Fast & Furious franchises from their current stars. But the critical and commercial disappointment of those endeavors has proven that Statham’s best bet is to stick with his own franchises. He’s headlined such action movie franchises as the Crank, Mechanic, and Meg series, and found plenty of success in his own right. Statham’s recent win at the box office and the surprising success of one of his older films on Netflix suggest he should go back to one of his earliest franchises.
The Beekeeper’s Box Office Proves Jason Statham Is Still A Major Action Movie Star
Statham’s most recent action movie starring vehicle, The Beekeeper, has been a huge hit at the box office, having grossed more than $133 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo) on a modest budget of $40 million. The Beekeeper sees an ex-mercenary springing back into action to exact revenge when his friend and landlady falls victim to a phishing scam. The Beekeeper is currently the highest-grossing movie of 2024. It surely won’t hold that record once Dune: Part Two, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes all come along, but it’s an impressive feat nonetheless.
The success of The Beekeeper has provided definitive proof that Statham is still a major action movie star with a spot on the A-list. It managed to outgross star-studded, I.P.-based fare like Argylle and Mean Girls, proving that Statham is a franchise unto himself. Unlike a lot of his peers in the action genre, Statham is still in his prime, at the height of his star power. The Beekeeper could become a franchise of its own, and in the meantime, he could return to one of his older franchises that’s crying out to be revisited.
