It looks like President Donald Trump has gotten his way in convincing his friends at Paramount to greenlight a new “Rush Hour” film and for the studio to hire a controversial filmmaker, accused by six women of sexual misconduct, to direct the fourth movie in the once-popular buddy-cop franchise.
Paramount Skydance, which is run by David Ellison and his father Larry Ellison, will let Brett Ratner direct the new “Rush Hour” sequel, according to Puck co-founder Matthew Belloni. The industry expert said the idea has long been “radioactive” and possibly represents America heading “toward the dumbest possible form of state-sponsored media.”
Ratner directed the first three “Rush Hour” movies in 1998, 2001 and 2007, which starred Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. But he retreated from Hollywood during the #MeToo movement after he was “credibly accused” in 2017 news reports of sexually harassing and assaulting multiple women, including actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge, Belloni said.
Ratner has long shopped the idea of rebooting the “Rush Hour” franchise, with stars Chan and Tucker revising their roles as police detectives with different approaches to crime-solving, according to Belloni. But Ratner had no success, especially after 2017. Not many studio heads would want to be seen on the red carpet with him. But according to Belloni, another issue is that Chan is 71 and is probably no longer in top-fighting shape, while Tucker hasn’t headlined a studio movie since “Rush Hour 3” in 2007.
Ratner’s fortunes with “Rush Hour” began to turn a couple months ago, according to Belloni. That’s when Trump’s friend and supporter, Larry Ellison, who owns a major stake in Paramount, and David Ellison, the studio’s new CEO, reportedly had conversations with the White House about the studio taking on “Rush Hour 4” — at the urging of Trump, according to Belloni.
Since Trump returned to the White House in early 2025, Ratner has “become royalty in Trumpworld,” Belloni said. He directed the documentary about Melania Trump that Amazon MGS studios reportedly paid $40 million for. That film is due for release in January. Ratner also has become a fixture at Mar-a-Lago resort and at the White House.
According to Belloni, Paramount has secured funding for the film and agreed to a distribution deal with Warner Bros, which previously owned the franchise under its New Line banner. But it’s not clear from Belloni’s report whether Chan and Tucker will be in the new movie, though their names have been long attached to it.
Meanwhile, Peter Bradford at The Guardian said that rebooting the “Rush Hour” franchise would fit into Trump’s second-term efforts to reintroduce old-fashioned masculinity into Hollywood culture, after appointing Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight and Mel Gibson unofficial “special ambassadors” to Hollywood.