The buzz is back. Jason Statham will return as ass-kicking apiarist Adam Clay in The Beekeeper 2. Deadline reports that Nobody 2 helmer Timo Tjahjanto will direct.

Plot details are being kept under wraps for now, but the film is slated to begin shooting this fall. The original was a surprise hit last year, grossing $153 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. The original was helmed by David Ayer (Training Day) and penned by Kurt Wimmer (Law Abiding Citizen); there’s no word yet if either will be involved with the sequel in any capacity, but the filmmakers are attempting to bring back Ayer as a producer. The news comes as Statham is about to grace the screen again as another working-class badass; he’ll star in A Working Man as a commando turned construction worker who has to call upon his old skills when his boss’ daughter gets kidnapped by human traffickers. Ayer directed and co-wrote the film, which will hit screens on March 28.

What is ‘The Beekeeper’ About?

Statham stars as Adam Clay, a quiet beekeeper who rents out the barn of retired school teacher Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad). When she loses millions of dollars in charity funds on a phishing scam, Clay swears revenge. Unluckily for the scammers, he’s a member of the Beekeepers, a secret society of special operatives. He starts hunting down the conspiracy that killed his friend, and finds that it was masterminded by Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), a corrupt businessman who also happens to be the son of the President of the United States (Jemma Redgrave). As he battles his way to the top, he’ll have to deal with hired killers, his fellow Beekeepers, and Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Eloise’s FBI agent daughter, who initially suspects Adam in her mother’s death. It all comes down to a final confrontation in Danforth’s beachside mansion as Clay takes on an army of mercenaries that stand between him and revenge. The film also stars Jeremy Irons as Danforth’s head of security and Minnie Driver as the director of the CIA.

The Beekeeper was not only a surprise box office success, but a hit with critics, as well. It currently holds a 71% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes; in his review, Collider‘s Nate Richard called it “one of the most wild mainstream action movies to hit the big screen in a while.”

The Beekeeper 2 is in development, and will begin shooting this fall; no release date has yet been announced.

via Collider