After An Intervention From Trump, 'Rush Hour 4' Is Officially In The Works
We’ve confirmed with sources that Paramount is releasing the next Rush Hour sequel from Brett Ratner. They are distributing on behalf of Warner Bros for a double-digit percent distribution fee.
Intriguing deal at an intriguing time: The David Ellison owned Paramount is one of the fierce bidders for Warner Bros. Discovery. This is arguably the two studios’ first team-up since Ellison took control of the Melrose Ave lot and following a moment when all WBD bids were due last week (the other suitors being Netflix and Comcast).
Ratner was accused of sexual assault back in 2017 by Melanie Kohler. He sued for defamation, and both sides settled in the fall of 2018 agreeing to move on. Ratner, who was a lynchpin of Warner Bros financing entity RatPac, which funded a portion of several slate titles, recently directed a documentary about First Lady Melania Trump for Amazon MGM Studios which will hit theaters on Jan. 30.
ICYMI, earlier this week it was reported that Trump was pressuring Oracle founder Larry Ellison, father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, to bring back the franchise for another run.
The president has personally pressed Ellison to bring back his favorite buddy-cop flick, along with other boisterous comedies and action movies of the 1980s and ’90s, a person familiar with the talks told Semafor.
The move comes as Trump has smiled on Paramount Skydance’s bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery in a megadeal, as The Post first reported. Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, has a big stake in Paramount and his son David Ellison is its CEO.
So, clearly, state and church are a little close for comfort here. Paramount is run by the son of a Trump mega donor. Paramount wants to buy Warner brothers but needs Gov't approval. Trump says he wants a new Rush Hour movie and, within days, Paramount green lights it. Directing is an exiled hollywood figure who has been shadowing the first lady for a $40m documentary over the last few months. Not hard to connect the dots on this one. The meddling here is gross but, in this specific case, I actually think it's a good thing if it prevents Netflix from getting WB.
As far as this actual reboot goes, I love these movies. I'm not sure if any two leads ever had more chemistry than Chan and Tucker, and the Rush Hour blooper reel alone is better than most comedies made today. And these two seem to get along off screen as well as they do in the movies.
That said, these dudes are OLD. They even look old in that video above and its from 2012! Chan still does the occasional action movie abroad while Tucker has seemed to move on to other stuff (he was fantastic in 'Air'. Point is, seeing them try to capture that physical part of the movie again isn't really possible. I'd still sign on to see the comedy, but that's only one half of the movie.
I also don't want to see them try to hand off the torch to new guys either. So, what is the answer here? Make the movie 15 years ago, if you ask me. A swan song for these two and their friendship isn't the worst thing in the world, though. WAY worse remakes/reboots have been greenlit over the last few years.