Paramount Pictures has reportedly given the green light to 'Rush Hour 4', with Donald Trump having intervened on behalf of the film, according to industry sources. The sequel, which will reunite stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, is to be directed by Brett Ratner, who had been sidelined in Hollywood following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement.
Ratner had struggled for years to secure financing for the fourth instalment of the buddy-cop franchise. However, Trump lobbied Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder of Paramount Skydance, to back the project. Ellison's company earlier this year settled a lawsuit with Trump over a critical CBS News interview. Paramount has secured funding and struck a distribution deal with Warner Bros, which previously owned the franchise under its New Line banner.
The news was broken by Puck's Matthew Belloni, who wrote on social media: 'Get ready for the dumbest possible state-controlled media.' Ratner was accused of sexual assault by several women in 2017, derailing his career. He sued one accuser, Melanie Kohler, for defamation; the two settled in 2018. Kohler had alleged Ratner raped her at the home of producer Robert Evans.
Ratner most recently directed a $40 million documentary about Melania Trump for Amazon MGM Studios, owned by Jeff Bezos, who has also maintained friendly relations with the president. The film is set for release on 30 January. The first three 'Rush Hour' films grossed over $850 million worldwide and were especially popular in China.
The new film is seen as part of Trump's second-term efforts to reintroduce traditional masculinity into Hollywood, after appointing Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight and Mel Gibson as unofficial 'special ambassadors' to the industry.
