LOS ANGELES — Bees are important for the ecosystem, and in David Ayer’s new film, Jason Statham, who plays Adam Clay, becomes a vital beekeeper who seeks to protect the hive when the system is out of balance and the laws of men fail.
In the film, Josh Hutcherson plays Derek, a maniac who runs a scamming ring that preys on society’s most vulnerable. As a privileged son of titans, Derek feels untouchable until Adam Clay sets his eyes on taking him down.
Discussing his character with Spectrum News, Hutcherson says, “Derek is unhinged.”
“For me, it is a dream to get to play characters this wild and out there. It is challenging. You don’t want to make somebody bad for no reason. You want to find the truth, find their essence. David Ayer and I had a lot of conversations about developing who Derek was, and once we had that solid base, it gave me a lot of freedom to go for it. He’s just a guy that is easy to hate,” he said.
Hutcherson shared that while he himself has not been a victim to a scam, his great grandmother became a phone scam victim.
“[Someone] pretended to be a family member who needed money for bail. My grandmother, God love her, was there to bail the family out of jail, but it is mean, and it is preying upon people,” he said.
Ayer, who directed “Suicide Squad” and “Fury,” told Spectrum News, that he hopes people who watch the film will take away that perhaps there is someone who can fix our problems.
“Maybe, the system sometimes needs a little bit a of help. Maybe we need to focus more on justice and just outcomes in life,” he said.
Hinting at a sequel, Ayer said there are some threads that need to be tied off and that connect to things that happened in this film.
“It is going to be complex. It is going to be good. It is going to be satisfying. We are definitely going to learn more about the Beekeepers (a special program outside of the chain of command),” he said.
“The Beekeeper” opens in theaters this weekend.
It stars Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, David Witts, Taylor James, Jemma Redgrave, Enzo Cilenti, Megan Le, Phylicia Rashad and Jeremy Irons.
Click the link above to watch the full interview with director David Ayer and Josh Hutcherson.
