Paramount Skydance officially greenlit the long-awaited Rush Hour sequel on Tuesday after President Donald Trump reportedly pressured the Hollywood studio to revive one of his favorite movie franchises.
Trump apparently leveraged his friendly relationship with Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, to approve the next outing in the buddy-cop action-comedy series, Semafor reported on Sunday. By Tuesday, it appears the president’s effort was successful.
Rush Hour 4 is now in the works, according to reports. The release date and production schedule remain unknown, but the original creative team behind the first three films is expected to return.
That includes stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, as well as director Brett Ratner, who incidentally filmed a documentary about first lady Melania Trump. Ratner’s career in Hollywood was previously derailed by allegations of sexual assault and harassment during the #MeToo movement.
The director is now making a comeback with his next two projects, thanks to Trump.
The third Rush Hour movie was released in 2007. The franchise will be returning 20 years later, with the fourth one likely releasing in 2027, depending on the production start date.
Paramount Skydance plans on teaming up with Warner Bros. Discovery to distribute the film in theaters. The partnership is intriguing, considering Ellison is looking to buy out WBD.
On Thursday, Paramount Skydance submitted its bid to acquire the studio’s entire business model. Netflix and Comcast also submitted their own bids, but their offers will likely be rejected for a number of reasons.
Netflix and Comcast are only bidding for WBD’s streaming and studio assets, while Paramount Skydance is also interested in taking control of WBD’s cable networks, such as CNN.
If successful in its bid, Paramount Skydance could overhaul CNN in a similar way it approached remaking CBS News this year by appointing Free Press founder Bari Weiss as the mainstream outlet’s editor-in-chief. The White House reportedly backs Ellison’s idea to gain ownership of CNN, along with his company’s possible acquisition of WBD.
The two competing bidders against Paramount Skydance also face Trump’s disapproval and regulatory hurdles that will not be resolved quickly.
Paramount and Skydance merged in August after receiving approval from Trump’s Federal Communications Commission, over one year after the two companies reached a tentative deal.
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Rush Hour 4 will be part of Paramount Skydance’s massive film slate in the coming years. The newly merged company had a goal of releasing eight films per year. It is anticipated to more than double that output by 2027.
Paramount Skydance has not commented on distributing Rush Hour 4, but numerous sources have confirmed to various news outlets that the plan is moving forward.