Rush Hour 4 on way thanks to Donald Trump

Rush Hour 4 is finally in the works, reportedly following a request from President Donald Trump.

Rush Hour 4 is in the works, reportedly following a request from President Donald Trump.

The long-mooted installment in the buddy-cop saga has Paramount on board to distribute the film – which comes more than 18 years after Rush Hour 3 – with Semafor reporting the studio came on board following conversations between the US leader and his friend and financial donor, the firm’s owner Larry Ellison.

A source told the outlet the former Apprentice star “personally pressed the Paramount owner” to revive the franchise.

Brett Ratner – who directed the Melania documentary about First Lady Melania Trump – will return to helm the film, having taken the reins on the first three movies in the franchise until his career was halted in 2017 by accusations of sexual assault amid the #MeToo movement.

According to Variety, Paramount will be paid a flat distribution fee to release Rush Hour 4 and won’t be responsible for the marketing or financing the film.

Warner Bros., whose New Line division backed 1998’s Rush Hour and the 2001 and 2007 sequels, will receive first-dollar gross, meaning they receive a percentage of box office revenues before financiers recoup any costs.

Earlier this year, Jackie Chan – who starred as Detective Inspector Yan Naing Lee opposite Chris Tucker’s Detective James Carter in the action/comedy trilogy – confirmed the fourth movie was still in the pipeline.

When Screen Rant asked Chan whether Rush Hour 4 was still happening, he said: “Yes! And I want to do [another] Shanghai Knights, Shanghai Dawn. Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, and Shanghai Dawn.

“The script is still going on. I want to do a Rush Hour 4.”

Despite his hopes for another Rush Hour movie, the Karate Kid: Legends actor admitted he was unsure how of how far along development on the film was.

He said of Rush Hour 4: “I don’t know. Ask the director, ask the studio, ask the writer. Hurry up! Otherwise, Chris Tucker and me [will be] 100 years old. We’ll be old men doing ‘Rush Hour’.”

Rush Hour follows a disciplined Hong Kong inspector and a reckless LAPD detective who are forced to work together when a young girl is kidnapped in Los Angeles.

As their cultures and methods collide, they must find common ground to solve the case before time runs out.

On a production budget of $35 million, Rush Hour pulled in $244.7 million worldwide after its theatrical run in 1998.

In total, the series has grossed nearly $850 million globally.