Rush Hour 4 in Development…But There’s a Catch! Yikes!

Rush Hour 4 in Development…But There’s a Catch! Yikes!

Rush Hour fans recently got some interesting news regarding the future of the franchise. I have some thoughts on the news, so let’s talk about it!

My Thoughts

If you don’t know what’s going on, earlier today it was reported by all of the major trades that a fourth Rush Hour movie is happening at Paramount with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker returning. At face value, that’s exciting news because there’s been so many talks and rumors about this movie happening for years. The third film came out in 2007 and ever since then there’s been updates and hopes from the stars that a fourth film will happen. If I were just given that information my thoughts on the project would be one thing. 

The other thing that came along with this is that Brett Ratner will be returning to direct the film and this’ll be his first film since 2014 with Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson. If you don’t know, Brett Ratner has sort of been blacklisted by Hollywood becasue of sexual assault allegations. The fact that he’s coming back is interesting and is shocking news. However, that’s not the most shocking news to come out of this report. The whole reason why Rush Hour 4 is officially happening is because Donald Trump is requesting that Paramount makes this movie. Ratner’s pick to direct makes more sense when you learn that he directed a documentary a few years back about Melania Trump, so there’s a connection between Ratner and Trump. 

Overall, I find this news to be so weird and it concerns me about the future of Hollywood. Donald Trump is a very controversial yet prominent figure in today’s society. Some people love him and some people hate him. If an individual like him is requesting what movies he wants made I think is a really bad move for Hollywood. Whether you love or hate him, having somebody with as much power as he has telling Hollywood what they should or shouldn’t make isn’t a smart idea. His power got Jimmy Kimmel kicked off the air for a few days, Stephen Colbert’s show is ending in May. If he can do that with late night hosts, whatever he could do with movies is scary to me. This could get Hollywood into a lot of trouble and if they let him do it once, then he knows that he can do it and we could start getting more and more movies mandated by Trump or ones that he doesn’t want to see being made. 

I think the idea of a fourth Rush Hour movie is fun. I think the original is great, I think the sequels have diminishing returns. But Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are absolutely hilarious, one of the best duos in movies. At the same time, Chan is 71 and Tucker is 54. If they want to make this movie they should start filming soon because they’re not going to get any younger. I’m curious if their dynamic and their humor still work when they’re in their 50s and 70s and not 30 years younger. I don’t know about that. Overall, I’m very conflicted on this and I think this project as a whole is a bad sign and a bad look for Hollywood that they’re letting non-Hollywood people influence what movies are being made.