Brett Ratner shopped “Rush Hour 4,” with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, to every major studio in town and couldn’t secure a single backer. Then Donald Trump stepped in, meeting recently with Paramount/Skydance chief David Ellison and strongly urging him to make “Rush Hour 4” a reality. The film finally got greenlit to much industry pushback.
Here’s Puck’s Kim Masters with additional details, including a brief text exchange she had with Ratner. She’s told by a source with knowledge that the film will have a budget well over $100M, and some of that money will come from Saudi Arabia, which is also backing the Ellisons’ bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
Masters then texted Ratner, who confirmed to her: “The budget is over 100m.”
Ratner has told studio execs that Jackie Chan, now 71, and Chris Tucker, whose last leading movie role was “Rush Hour 3” in 2007, are ready to make “Rush Hour 4.” It’s happening, and nothing’s going to stop this ragtag group from making it.
The one thing Masters can’t seem to find an answer to is why Trump would go to bat for Ratner, a man shunned by Hollywood whose career was proclaimed dead this decade. It’s not hard to answer that. Ratner, who just filmed a $40M documentary about Melania Trump for Amazon/MGM, is now in the President’s good graces, but he’s also had a history with the President, having shot 2011’s “Tower Heist” inside Trump Tower.
Paramount will be handling “Rush Hour 4” distribution for Warner Bros. in exchange for a double-digit percentage fee. An intriguing deal at an intriguing time: Ellison’s Paramount is among the leading bidders for Warner Bros. Discovery. This marks arguably the first collaboration between the two studios since Ellison took over.
Ratner hasn’t directed a feature since 2014’s “Hercules,” starring Dwayne Johnson, which grossed $234M worldwide. His filmography includes the “Rush Hour” trilogy, “The Family Man,” “Tower Heist”—which was shot in Trump Tower—“X-Men: The Last Stand,” and, by far his best film, “Red Dragon,” which remains an anomaly in his career.
Whether there’s real demand for “Rush Hour 4” is debatable, but audiences clearly still crave nostalgia, IP, and legacy sequels. The original films remain widely quoted, and I have little doubt a fourth entry would succeed — so long as the budget stays in check …
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