After decades in development, it looks like “Rush Hour 4” is finally coming together as David Ellison‘s Paramount Pictures has apparently signed a deal to help IP-owners Warner Bros. Pictures distribute their next installment in the buddy cop comedy franchise starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as their characters are likely heading towards another international capper and investigation.
Deadline is reporting on the distribution deal between the two studios, but stopped short of revealing a concrete release date for the fourth installment or when they hope to get cameras rolling on the comedic sequel. Although it is noteworthy, this is the first big collaboration between the two studios since Ellison took over Paramount and is said to be actively bidding to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery with the help of his billionaire father, Larry Ellison.
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In the previous three movies, Chan plays a Hong Kong cop who is reluctantly paired up with a big-mouthed, trouble-making LAPD officer played by Tucker (a role previously offered to Eddie Murphy) as the two end up becoming best of friends through thwarting various kidnapping and other criminal plots. Where the two will be going on their next adventure remains to be seen.
Sadly, it sounds like they’re sticking with director Brett Ratner at the helm of “Rush Hour 4,” who had been previously caught up in various #MeToo scandals with six women (they included actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge) coming forward with sexual harassment/misconduct claims, and one woman (a former employee of the Endeavor Talent Agency) alleging Ratner “raped” her (the two ended up settling in 2018). With that in mind, we have to consider that Ratner’s damaged reputation and being a PR nightmare might be a reason that Paramount is stepping in to help release the film.
Ratner had recently directed a documentary about Melania Trump for Amazon MGM Studios, which is coming to theaters in January, and hasn’t tackled a scripted feature project since 2014’s “Hercules” starring Dwayne Johnson as the Greek demigod.
We’ll have to be a little more patient when it comes to further details for “Rush Hour 4,” as information seems to be a tad scarce at the moment.
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