Paramount reportedly in talks to acquire distribution rights for Rush Hour 4 following President Donald Trump's special request 

Rush Hour 4 is officially back in motion, and the story behind its revival is every bit as dramatic as the franchise itself. Paramount has stepped in to release the new sequel, but the project only moved forward after reports that Donald Trump personally pushed for the film to be resurrected. According to multiple outlets, he encouraged Larry Ellison, the entrepreneur who controls the newly formed Paramount Skydance, to bring the series back.

The reboot puts Brett Ratner back behind the camera. He directed the first three Rush Hour films before his career collapsed in 2017 when several women accused him of misconduct. More recently, he directed a documentary about Melania Trump for Amazon MGM Studios. Rush Hour 4 will be his first feature film since the 2014 release of Hercules, led by Dwayne Johnson. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are returning to star, marking their first on screen pairing since the 2007 third entry.

The series has a huge commercial legacy. The original 1998 film earned 244 million dollars worldwide. Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3 went even bigger with 347 million and 258 million respectively. The movies were particularly successful in China, helping cement their global reach.

Paramount’s decision comes as the studio goes through a major shift. Skydance recently acquired the company, and the new leadership wants to grow its yearly output from eight movies to fifteen by 2026, seventeen by 2027 and eighteen by 2028. The new chairman and CEO, David Ellison, is Larry Ellison’s son, and the family’s ties to Trump have already drawn attention as the project moves forward.

Rush Hour 4 remains in early development, but the pieces are now officially in place for a long delayed return.

What you need to know about the Rush Hour franchise before Rush Hour 4

The Rush Hour films make up one of the most recognisable buddy cop franchises in American cinema. Created by Ross LaManna and directed by Brett Ratner, the trilogy brings together Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as two detectives who keep stumbling into chaos on opposite sides of the world. Chan plays Chief Inspector Lee of the Hong Kong Police Force, while Tucker appears as Detective James Carter from the Los Angeles Police Department.

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Every movie throws them into some messy collision of Hong Kong crime and Los Angeles mayhem, blending martial arts, culture clash comedy and the classic mismatched partners formula. The series ran theatrically from 1998 to 2007, earning major box office numbers even though critics never fully agreed on its quality.

It would certainly be interesting to see how the fourth film in the franchise plays out and how it fits into the currentbera of cinema. More details on Rush Hour 4 are awaited for now.

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