Rush Hour 4 is on the way from Paramount/SkyDance, but there’s one massive catch. Donald Trump was the driving factor in getting this movie and effort greenlit by the studio. Matt Beloni from Puck News hinted that there had been some movement on getting Rush Hour 4 off the ground in his podcast recently. Then, Semafor reported that Trump pushed for the movie to happen with Bret Rattner.
Ratner recently completed a documentary about Melania Trump for Amazon MGM Studios. As that movie releases on January 30th, the world will anticipate this new Rush Hour movie. But, it will be interesting to see how audiences react to the route this new film took to get to theaters. Ratner’s history with alleged sexual misconduct is wide and notable.
In fact, Ratner’s involvement is a big reason why it’s taken so long to get a Rush Hour 4 in the first place. Decision makers at Paramount and Warner Brothers all wanted to pursue a reunion between Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. But, Ratner’s reputation made that a precarious tightrope to navigate. Now, with Ralph Ellison and company listening to the Trump administration, the movie proceeds as a part of Skydance’s first big project of their tenure.
All of this plays out as Warner Brothers Discovery mulls who to sell their company to. After much protesting, CEO David Zaslav is actively looking for bidders to take over the operations for the storied movie lot.
Brett Ratner’s relationship with Donald Trump colors the Rush Hour deal
While it’s easy to get lured into the idea of a beloved movie franchise getting a long awaited sequel, there are more important factors at play. Firstly, the sexual misconduct allegations and harassment allegations from 6 women back in 2017. Ratner allegedly forced Natasha Henstridge to perform oral intercourse with him. In addition, Olivia Munn accused the director of masturbating in front of her.
Business implications of this deal have dominated headlines, but there are more serious matters at hand. Donald Trump’s administration, along with congress at large, is still scrambling to deal with the release of the Epstein Files. There’s also the extended fallout from the release of Epstein’s emails. Cultural morsels like this function to help take some of the heat off of those reveals.
Cultural critics and political journalists also ponder the chilling effect moves like this have on the larger studios as well. This Rush Hour business follows ABC’s controversial decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel because he said some things that the government didn’t like.
Rush Hour fans might be getting their follow-up. But, someone should probably ask if the effort is even worth it. Re-watching those movies shows off all the warts of the time they were made in. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are still charming, but will that be enough whenever this movie makes it to the theaters? Instead of answers, all this move from Paramount/Skydance has done is create more questions for the audience waiting for the movie.
(Photo Credit: New Line Cinema)
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