Although Jason Statham has long been one of the biggest action stars in the industry, he still holds up his great role models: that of course includes genre veteran Sylvester Stallone, with whom Statham appeared in front of the camera several times for the “Expendables” series. But Statham doesn’t just admire the 77-year-old’s acting talent and muscle; After all, Stallone has also taken on countless challenges behind the camera in his long career.
Stallone has directed eight times and has written or at least co-written the script for 22 films – including some of his biggest hits (including ‘Rocky’ and ‘Rambo II – The Order’). ‘Homefront’ (2013) is also a film based on a Stallone script in which the ‘Demolition Man’ star did not appear – but Jason Statham did.
Although that of Gary Fleder While Reißer, directed by Reißer (“Don’t Say a Word”), received somewhat mixed reviews, Statham is more than convinced of Stallone’s abilities as a writer. So much so that he is currently working with “The Beekeeper” director David Ayer to adapt a script written by Stallone called “Levon’s Trade” into a feature film (more on that in this article).
“We said we had to do this again,” Statham said in an interview . “[Sly] is a great author. Some people are not even aware of his writing talent. But he writes great characters.” Ayer, who wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning police thriller ‘Training Day’ (2001), is currently busy revising Stallone’s template. “So we have a really great movie that we’re going to make soon,” Statham promises.
After the 56-year-old suffered a nasty flop with “The Expendables 4”, he returned to the road to success with “The Beekeeper”. The action thriller climbed to No. 1 in the German cinema charts and FILMSTARTS author Sidney Schering gave it a solid 3 out of 5 stars. The conclusion of his review reads: “The thirst for sweet revenge in ‘The Beekeeper’ is quite entertaining, especially for fans of the ‘old’ Jason Statham.” Can ‘Levon’s Trade’ continue this? The odds are certainly good!