According to Deadline, Jason Statham is set to star in Levon’s Trade, an action movie to be directed by David Ayer from a screenplay by none other than Sylvester Stallone. The film re-teams Statham and Ayer, whose new film, The Beekeeper, is getting good buzz (pun intended).
Levon’s Trade is adapted from the novel of the same name by Chuck Dixon and follows Levon Cade (Statham) as he leaves his “profession” behind to go “straight” and work in construction. “He wants to live a simple life and be a good father to his daughter,” reads Deadline’s description. “But when his boss’s teenage daughter Jenny vanishes, he’s called upon to re-employ the skills that made him a legendary figure in the shadowy world of black ops. His hunt for the missing college student takes him deep into the heart of a sinister criminal conspiracy creating a chain reaction that will threaten his new way of life.“
Producer Bill Block said: “I am thrilled to be reuniting with some of my most talented and longstanding partners on Levon’s Trade. I first worked with David Ayer on Fury and it was immediately clear that he is a director at the very top of his game. Jason and I have worked together on a number of films, and most recently the three of us collaborated on The Beekeeper. Levon’s Trade is going to be another spectacular action movie and I’m confident we’ve assembled the dream team to bring the first novel in this celebrated series to the big screen.“
Assuming Sylvester Stallone doesn’t make an on-screen appearance in Levon’s Trade in some capacity, it will be the first movie he scripted without appearing since Homefront in 2013, which also happened to star Jason Statham. That movie got middling reviews, but the budget was fairly low and it turned a nice profit overseas. While Statham’s last collaboration with Stallone, Expend4bles, laid an egg domestically, the star’s last film, Meg 2: The Trench, was a blockbuster overseas, with the worldwide total being close to $400 million. Clearly, Statham is still a draw internationally. It’s expected that production on Levon’s Trade will kick off in London in March 2024. Jason Statham will also produce for Punch Palace Productions alongside Sylvester Stallone for Balboa Productions, David Ayer and Chris Long for Cedar Park Entertainment, John Friedberg for Black Bear, and Bill Block for Block Film.
As Bill Block mentioned, Jason Statham will next be seen starring in David Ayer’s The Beekeeper, which follows one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as ‘Beekeepers.’ The film is set to hit theaters on January 12, 2024.
