Yara Shahidi is set to play a new character in the sequel to the 2024 Jason Statham-led action thriller The Beekeeper.
Yara Shahidi has boarded the cast of The Beekeeper 2 alongside Jason Statham.
The Grown-ish and Black-ish star, 25, has signed on for the sequel to the 2024 sleeper hit The Beekeeper, Variety reports.
Statham, 58, will return as Adam Clay, a former operative of a covert organisation known as The Beekeepers, unleashing vengeance against a corrupt tech company.
The sequel, currently in pre-production, promises to expand the film’s universe with new characters and high-stakes missions.
Details about Shahidi’s role are yet to be revealed.
Former child star Shahidi played her first adult lead role in the 2019 drama film, The Sun Is Also a Star. In 2023, she played Tinker Bell in the fantasy adventure film Peter Pan and Wendy, and executive produced and starred in the romantic comedy-drama film, Sitting in Bars with Cake.
According to the outlet, Nobody 2 helmer Timo Tjahjanto will direct from a script by returning scribe Kurt Wimmer, meaning the director of the first film, David Ayer, is not returning.
Statham will once again produce under his s Punch Palace Productions banner.
Jeremy Irons, 77, is also said to be reprising his role as Wallace Westwyld, the former CIA Director, now head of security for Danforth Enterprises.
The Beekeeper 2 is being produced by Miramax, with filming slated to begin later this year.
The original film grossed over $150 million worldwide and earned praise for its stylised combat and Statham’s signature intensity.
Statham previously hinted at a sequel, noting there is a “whole world that we can dive into”.
He previously told Variety: “The whole movie escalates in terms of the action. And it goes through an incredible, great crescendo.
“The whole world [of the film] has a mythology of the ‘beekeeping’ world. If we were fortunate enough to make a sequel, we have a whole world that we can dive into.”
Yara Shahidi boards The Beekeeper 2
