The Beekeeper Is David Ayer's First Box Office Success Since Suicide Squad
David Ayer directed one of the most unexpectedly huge hits of the last decade with DC's "Suicide Squad" back in 2016. What happened after was an unfortunate mess that Ayer found himself caught in the middle of. Now though, the filmmaker finally gets to be on the right end of a theatrical success story as his latest film "The Beekeeper" has found life at the box office. With the help of Jason Statham and a ridiculous premise, Ayer now has his first theatrical hit since his divisive superhero blockbuster.
Even though it didn't top the charts (that honor belongs to the new "Mean Girls" musical), "The Beekeeper" opened to $16.5 million, with that total growing to $19 million when accounting for the Monday MLK holiday, per The Numbers. The film only made $4 million overseas thus far, bringing its total to $23 million, but it is still scheduled to open in many key markets in the coming weeks. So this is very much just the beginning for Statham's latest beat-em-up action flick. Especially when we consider that recent films from the star have performed far better overseas, with "Wrath of Man" making $76 million of its $104 million take internationally. If something similar happens again, this movie's financial outlook is only going to improve as time goes on.
"The Beekeeper" centers on a man's campaign for vengeance. Not just your average beekeeper, he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as "Beekeepers." Emmy Raver-Lampman ("The Umbrella Academy"), Josh Hutcherson ("Five Nights at Freddy's"), Bobby Naderi ("Bright"), Minnie Driver ("Good Will Hunting"), Phylicia Rashad ("Creed"), and Jeremy Irons ("House of Gucci") co-star alongside Statham.
David Ayer needed a win
What sticks out like a sore thumb right now is the fact that the budget for the film has yet to be revealed. That said, Variety recently described it as "modestly budgeted," and my feeling is it was probably made for $35 million or less. If it's anywhere near that, MGM should do well enough with this one, especially since it's ultimately going to live on Amazon Prime Video and isn't as reliant on pure theatrical revenue as certain other movies are. It's hard to see this not being a win, all things considered right now.
Speaking more broadly, it's a win that Ayer sorely needed. "Suicide Squad" ended up making $747 million worldwide, which decimated expectations at the time. It also won an Oscar (for Best Makeup and Hairstyling). But the pic was also lambasted by critics and, due to Warner Bros.' reaction to what happened with "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," was essentially ripped away from Ayer in the edit. The version of this movie he set out to make never saw the light of day and probably never will. It remains a sore spot for Ayer, and understandably so.
Most directors who made such a successful movie would immediately move into either a sequel, a passion project, or another big movie. Ayer did direct "Bright" for Netflix but that was kind of a here today, gone tomorrow thing that never touched the silver screen. His next movie, 2020's "The Tax Collector," hardly registered at all with moviegoers in no small part due to the pandemic. For a guy who has credits like "End of Watch" and "Fury" to his name as well, it's surprising. But more than seven years later, Ayer is getting to enjoy the fruits of a crowd-pleasing movie doing well at the box office.
"The Beekeeper" is in theaters now.