What an insane timeline we currently live in.
As you know, Brett Ratner’s “Rush Hour 4” has been revived, a franchise whose last instalment was released in 2007. Stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are expected to return. None other than Donald Trump pushed for the franchise’s revival and encouraged Larry Ellison to pursue the property, whispering in son David’s ear to get Paramount to greenlight the project.
Now comes word that Ratner will reportedly travel alongside Trump and Elon Musk on a trip to China for a major summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the visit, Ratner and Trump plan to scout filming locations and meet with cast and crew for “Rush Hour 4.”
Ratner’s unusual Hollywood comeback, after multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him surfaced in 2017, kickstarted after he directed a documentary about Melania Trump for Amazon/MGM. The documentary was reportedly sold for $75M and became one of the strongest documentary openings in recent years.
A September shoot in China, Africa, and Saudi Arabia is being planned. The budget is $140M, with stars Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, who both rejected offers of $8M each to return, asking for double that amount—which seems ludicrous when you take into account that Chan is now 71 and hasn’t had a hit movie since then. Tucker’s last leading movie role was in, you guessed it, “Rush Hour 3.”
It certainly doesn’t help that much of the money amassed to finance “Rush Hour 4” comes from the Middle East, which, if you haven’t been following the news, is currently a shitshow, and that Saudi Arabia is coming off an all-timer of a bomb: the Anthony Mackie-starring “Dessert Warrior,” which cost $150M and has so far only amassed $733,940 worldwide.
What could possibly go wrong?
David Ellison has given his Paramount leadership team a stark ultimatum over the company’s legal battle with California regulators and the proposed $110 billion Warner Bros. merger.