Here's how The Beekeeper ending sets up a Jason Statham sequel (exclusive)

Watch: David Ayer discusses The Beekeeper ending and sequel plans

Jason Statham might have just given us his most entertaining movie in years. The Beekeeper is a high-octane onslaught of inventive violence and apian wordplay. It also unravels a secret world of shady government initiatives, and director David Ayer says there's much more on the way.

In the movie (in cinemas today), Statham plays Adam Clay. He's a quiet dude who keeps bees (obviously) and, if he needs to, he smashes heads. So when a high-tech scamming operation targets his elderly friend (Phylicia Rashad), things go badly for the con artists.

It turns out that Statham is more than just a literal beekeeper – he's part of a top-secret government program to create ruthless operatives capable of going where more sanctioned agents simply can't, and doing things sanctioned agents wouldn't dare do.

“I'm fascinated by the mythology of the beekeepers,” the Suicide Squad director tells Yahoo. He's very keen to explore this shady world more in a whole hive of sequels.

When the dust settles at the end of The Beekeeper, the path is left clear for us to delve deeper and Ayer explains that was a very deliberate choice. This was always meant to be just a taster of what the world of beekeepers can offer.

He says: “We've cracked the door a little bit and seen what they can do. Now I want to know: who are they, where did they come from, and where are they going? And where did Jason come from in all this? There's so much more to explore and it's another opportunity to work with Jason.”

In fact, beekeepers are very much on Ayer's mind as he prepares for his next raft of projects. The director says he has "a little bit of everything" in the pipeline, including good news for fans of The Beekeeper and even better news for Statham lovers like us.

"There will be some more Beekeeper and some more bee puns coming," he says. "We're gonna team up with Jason again and work on a film called Levon's Trade. So I'm not going home. I'm going back to set and back to work here in the UK."

There could even be an insectoid cinematic universe afoot for bee fans, with Ayer refusing to rule out an ambitious cross-over with the animated oddity Bee Movie.

"That's pretty tempting," says Ayer. "I've gotta call Jerry Seinfeld and see what he wants to do. It would be a good combo."

You heard it here first. It's happening.

Read our full interview with David Ayer in which we discussed directing an action legend like Jason Statham, Suicide Squad, and why he's moving away from big franchise blockbusters...

Yahoo Entertainment UK: Do you see The Beekeeper as a little bit of a departure, as it's a bit more tongue-in-cheek than your previous movies were?

David Ayer: Absolutely. My normal happy place as a director is these intense dramas. Looking at the world and looking at everything going on, but also looking at the films that inspired me to become a filmmaker like Lethal Weapon or 48 Hrs or Die Hard, these incredible movies, I wanted to make an homage to them and create a bit of escapist cinema.

I think the word "fun" is kind of missing from cinema these days. We used to go to forget about the world and forget about everything happening, and I just wanted to give audiences just a little space to enjoy themselves.

Working with a guy like Jason Statham, he must bring his own action ideas to set?

Here's someone who is an action icon, an action superstar, and a legend. But also, he has an encyclopaedic knowledge of cinematic action. He can tell you 'oh that punch or kick was thrown in this movie 25 years ago', which can be a bit intimidating. How do you top that? How do you top history?

Because he does his own stunts and he's not only the face but he's doing the actual action itself, it makes him very sensitive to how these things are crafted. So he probably taught me more about action than I think I knew going in.

Watch a trailer for The Beekeeper

He's one of my favourite people to watch fight. You can tell he's doing it himself because he has a very specific style. Is there a point where you just have to get out of his way as a director?

At some points, I'm just chasing him with a camera. Everything he does is kind of marvellous. I operate camera a lot so just getting in there and having that intimacy and that relationship and knowing that I can depend upon him not just as an actor but as a stunt performer is kind of novel and a real pleasure.

Do you have a favourite Statham movie? You're not allowed to say this one.

I'm gonna go back to the beginning. I mean, Snatch is kind of amazing. It's so raw and real, with that amazing energy. It's been interesting to watch how he has gone from an icon of British cinema to actually becoming incredibly successful in mainstream Hollywood.

When you first got hold of the script for this, was there a point at which you went "how many bee puns am I going to allow in the finished film"?

I'm gonna be honest, that was always the conversation. There was a lot in the script and I think we added some on set, so we had a full quiver of bee puns. So it just became about modulation. There was definitely a cut of the movie that was wall-to-wall bee puns and I think I got the look. We had to moderate. There's a bit of dad humour in it, but I think it does work and it was great fun.

Maybe we'll get a 'Bee Cut' one day with all of the bee puns?

You could definitely do a bee pun supercut.

And there would be plenty of buzz about it, of course.

There would be a lot of buzz.

You must have heard them all at this point?

I have, but bring it. I love it.

When you're making a film that, as we've already discussed, is a bit lighter and more tongue-in-cheek than what you've done before, how do you go about finding the right level for the violence? Some of it is splattery and brutal and horrifying and some is a little bit more PG-13 and palatable. How do you find that sweet spot?

It's about options. When you do have the humour and when you play with things a little bit more and aren't so serious about it, it does help you push it in one direction or the other. It's just keeping it interesting and entertaining for the audience and not taking everything so seriously.

On that note, you can tell me if this is true because I read it on Wikipedia. You were, of course, attached to Scarface for a while and Wikipedia says your script was "too violent" and that's why it didn't happen? I can't imagine a Scarface script being too violent.

I think it was more about how it didn't capture the fun of the drug trade. It's definitely one of the best scripts I've ever written and it's sort of this underground lore in Hollywood now. I constantly hear about it and when people talk about the project like "are you gonna make that?", so it's out there.

But you've now got another franchise. Beekeeper, I think, could run. Was it a very deliberate choice to leave it so there could be more?

Absolutely. I mean, I'm fascinated by the mythology of the beekeepers. We've cracked the door a little bit and seen what they can do. Now I want to know: who are they, where did they come from, and where are they going? And where did Jason come from in all this? There's so much more to explore and it's another opportunity to work with Jason.

I was quite surprised by the level of lore in this movie, and I really enjoyed it. Every time there was a Jeremy Irons monologue about what the beekeepers were, I was really up for it.

I mean, nothing beats Jeremy Irons saying anything.

There's one more franchise I wanted to ask about, and that's Bright. I think it gets forgotten.

Yeah, I think they just put a pin in that for now. I'm not really involved in that any more. I had a lot of fun making that and now I can't wait to explore the world of The Beekeeper.

And is there a conscious shift for you, having had that time where some things went well and some things didn't go as well in that franchise world, to do more things like this?

Exactly. I think it's about me getting confidence as a filmmaker and just having amazing partners I can work with who trust me to make movies and really bring my strengths to the table.

You got to shoot a lot of this in the UK, I understand. How much fun was that? We're very proud when we get things shot here.

I know, I know! But I love shooting here. The crews are world-class. There's a culture of cinema here and a respect for cinema and the craft of it that I don't know if you get any place else. There's such a history and tradition of it and, if you really look at the most iconic films in cinema, so many of them were shot here.

What do you have in the pipeline next? Is it more Beekeeper, or is it something completely different?

A little bit of everything. There will be some more Beekeeper and some more bee puns coming. We're gonna team up with Jason again and work on a film called Levon's Trade. So I'm not going home. I'm going back to set and back to work here in the UK.

And we'll have a Beekeeper crossover with the animated Bee Movie presumably?

That's pretty tempting. I've gotta call Jerry Seinfeld and see what he wants to do. It would be a good combo.

The Beekeeper is in UK cinemas from Friday, 12 January.

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