What a headline.
Last we heard, “Rush Hour 4,” with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, was being pitched to multiple studios. There was only one problem… Brett Ratner was part of the pitch as the project’s potential director and producer, despite having not worked in Hollywood for the past seven years. In 2017, during the height of #MeToo, Ratner faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment.
Ratner was immediately dropped by his agency and has been deemed persona non grata in the industry. He has strongly denied all allegations of sexual misconduct, and no charges were ever brought against him.
A recent report had Ratner’s involvement as “a nonstarter for several studios,” including Paramount, which had been offered the package. That was before the Ellisons and Skydance took over the studio.
According to Semafor, with David Ellison in control of Paramount and possibly parts of the Warner empire, Trump is pushing for a greenlight of Ratner’s “Rush Hour 4.” Now, before you call the President a fan of the franchise, it must be noted that Ratner recently directed a $40M Melania Trump documentary for Amazon/MGM and has been in the president’s good graces for many years — the filmmaker shot “Tower Heist” at Trump Tower.
A person directly familiar with the conversations told Semafor that the president of the United States has personally pressed the Paramount owner to revive […] Rush Hour
Ratner has attempted a comeback since those #MeToo allegations surfaced more than seven years ago. In 2021, he was set to helm a longtime passion project of his, a biopic tackling disgraced R&B duo Milli Vanilli. However, major backlash, including a vehement condemnation from Time’s Up, forced him to drop out. It has now been eight years since he has helmed a feature film.
“Rush Hour” was an immensely successful buddy-cop trilogy that paired Jackie Chan with fast-talking comedian Chris Tucker. Combined, the three films grossed over $850M worldwide and were hugely popular in China, a market that Hollywood can’t always seem to crack.
For years, Chan and Tucker have both claimed that “Rush Hour 4” was in development, leaving viewers curious about when the movie will arrive. Most recently, Tucker said that the sequel would be one of his upcoming projects.
You don't see this every day: a major filmmaker, mid-release, admitting he's just not very good at his job. That’s exactly what Aaron Sorkin has done as “The Social Reckoning” dies a slow death in theaters.