The entertainment industry was taken by surprise last month when it was revealed that Rush Hour 4, the long-in-development next installment in the franchise, was officially moving forward. This occurred following a report claiming that Donald Trump had asked Larry Ellison, the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, to revive the property with another installment.
Brett Ratner is set to return as the director, after helming all three previous installments, while Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan are expected to reprise their roles as James Carter and Yan Naing Lee, respectively. Now, new information has come out regarding the project. As it turns out, it appears the film is not perceived as a good move for some. In a new report detailing the behind-the-scenes of the upcoming feature, Puck stated that many Hollywood figures see Rush Hour 4 as a "terrible idea."
The outlet further said that Paramount attached itself only as a distributor to avoid criticism regarding its involvement in the project. While Brett Ratner is said to have longed hoped for Rush Hour 4 to be his next directorial effort, many studios reportedly passed on it—including Paramount. Per Puck, one of the executives who rejected the film when Ratner was shopping it around called it a "geriatric money play."
The movie is reportedly seen as a financial risk for those within the industry, particularly given its $100 million budget. According to Puck, the film's massive $100 million budget will be partially covered by Saudi Arabia. In the original announcement for the project, Variety stated that Paramount would not handle the movie's marketing costs. Puck's Kim Masters revealed a text communication she had withnRatner, who informed her that, "The budget is over 100m."
Rush Hour was a relatively successful franchise. The first film made $244 million; Rush Hour 2 then made $347 million, while Rush Hour 3 brought in $256 million. However, it's been 18 years since the last installment in the series released. By the time Rush Hour 4 comes out, the project will likely be 20 years removed from its predecessor. As such, it's difficult to estimate whether the movie will find an audience once it releases.
Puck also spoke to a studio executive who previously worked with Ratner. According to him, Rush Hour 4 could end up succeeding, but still cautioned that the gap between installments makes things more complicated to assess:
"There are certain franchises that are dead and gone and finished, but I think the passage of a significant amount of time between installments does change the calculus." Per the executive, the answer lies in whether or not, "there's reason to believe people still have fond feelings about characters. 'Does the global audience care?' is a different question."
Rush Hour 4 does not currently have a release date.