Jason Statham’s newest movie, The Beekeeper, did well among critics and audiences, but this success only highlights the action star’s most recent failure, Expen4bles, whose flop status came as something of a surprise in 2023. The Beekeeper is a 2024 action thriller film starring Jason Statham as Adam Clay, a former “Beekeeper,” who sets out on a mission of revenge after his landlady’s tragic death caused by a phishing scheme. The new Statham action movie’s Rotten Tomatoes was a 70% and, with a budget of $40 million, earned nearly $134 million at the box office.

Though Jason Staham has regained audiences’ trust with The Beekeeper, it was not that long ago that a Jason Statham action movie became a complete and utter flop. In September 2023, the fourth movie in The Expendables franchise, Expend4bles,did very poorly. Expend4bles barely recouped half of its budget at the box office, earning $51.1 million on a $100 million expense. With a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was criticized for its lackluster special effects, its less-than-stellar action sequences, and its uninspired script. However, Expend4bles and The Beekeeper did have one commonality: Jason Statham.

The surprise action hit The Beekeeper has generated plenty of sequel buzz, but will the Jason Statham series continue in The Beekeeper 2?

The Beekeeper’s Box Office Proves Expendables 4’s Jason Statham Plan Was Correct

There are a few things to learn from Expend4bles box office flop and The Beekeeper’s success four months later. First and foremost, Expend4bles did do something right by making Jason Statham its lead. Although the movie was a total failure for the franchise, what praise it did get had almost everything to do with the English actor. By focusing more on his character, Expend4bles found a bright spot in an otherwise bad movie. If other aspects of the film had been improved upon, there is a chance that Jason Statham could have carried the entire thing on his shoulders.

It is clear that Expend4bles got Statham’s role right based on The Beekeeper’s success. Unlike Expend4bles, The Beekeeper had passable action, effects, and story, and in this way, Statham was able to really shine. Once again, most of The Beekeeper’s success has to do with Statham’s brooding action hero charm, so in this way, Expend4bles was on to something when it cast Statham as its new lead.

Expendables 4 Flopped For The Opposite Reason The Beekeeper Has Succeeded

There is one big difference between Expend4bles and The Beekeeper that not even Jason Statham could have fixed. While The Beekeeper was the first of a new franchise, Expend4bles was the latest in a line of dying movies. Although The Expendables franchise started off strong, boasting star-studded casts and edgy action sequences, the movies got progressively worse over time. Therefore, Expend4bles was the last straw in an already dying franchise. Meanwhile, The Beekeeper enjoyed the luxury of being fresh enough that its mistakes could be overlooked. So, with Statham or not, these movies were on two very different roads.