While The Beekeeper was a deservedly big hit for Jason Statham earlier in 2024, the upcoming action comedy Thelma takes its premise and makes it even better. The Beekeeper saw Jason Statham star as the eponymous “Beekeeper” operative, a particularly lethal dispenser of rough justice. When his sweet landlady falls for a phishing scam and ends up bankrupt, she takes her own life, and it is up to Statham’s tough antihero to avenge her. The Beekeeper’s ending sees Statham’s titular killer get his bloody revenge, but not before the movie sets up potential sequels with a few final twists.

These sequels are likely to happen thanks to the movie’s massive success at the box office and on streaming. The Beekeeper earned over $152 million upon release, meaning The Beekeeper 2 will likely be announced in the near future. Luckily, viewers won’t need to wait that long for another action movie that takes on the same theme. The upcoming action comedy Thelma has an almost identical premise, albeit with one major difference. This change means that Thelma can offer an even wilder spin on Statham’s action movie story, as the plot centers not on an operator, but a kindly grandmother.

Thelma Is An Even Wilder Version Of Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper
Thelma Reimagines Jason Statham’s Action Movie With An Elderly Heroine

While The Beekeeper was a big box office hit, the upcoming Thelma now promises to be another action success. Both movies are about someone getting revenge after an elderly person loses their savings to a phone scam. The difference is that The Beekeeper had Jason Statham’s titular antihero do the avenging for his late neighbor. In Thelma, the elderly heroine herself goes on a revenge rampage. June Squibb, known for her roles as The Big Bang Theory’s Meemaw and Nebraska’s Kate Grant, plays the 93-year-old grandmother Thelma. As the movie begins, Thelma falls victim to a phishing scam.

Against the advice of her grandson, Thelma’s elderly heroine arms herself with a gun and tries to track down the scammers who stole her savings. The movie earned stellar early reviews when it premiered at Sundance, with numerous critics saying that Squibb’s first action movie Thelma shouldn’t be her last foray into the genre. Screen veteran Squibb is reliably great in the central role, while stars like Parker Posey and Malcolm McDowell provide support. In contrast with The Beekeeper, Thelma is admittedly more warm and comedic than Statham’s action movie. However, the plots of the two projects are eerily similar.

Thelma’s Cast Makes Its Premise Even More Impressive
Thelma Boasts Screen Veterans June Squibb and Richard Roundtree

While Posey and McDowell are solid additions to Thelma’s cast, Squibb’s co-star Richard Roundtree was singled out as a high point by numerous reviewers. Roundtree is best known for playing the title role in 1971’s iconic Blaxploitation classic Shaft, as well as its sequels. Roundtree reprised the role in two Shaft reboots, one in 2000 and one in 2019. Thelma proves that the veteran is still a great addition to any action movie, with Roundtree and Squibb sharing great chemistry according to numerous reviewers. As such, Thelma will be a must-watch for fans of The Beekeeper upon its release.