How President Trump Helped "Rush Hour 4" Get Greenlit At Paramount

You may not have known this, but it appears that President Trump is also a Hollywood dealmaker. While running the country (into the ground, as many believe), he found time to advocate for one of his favorite film franchises.

Per Puck reporter Matthew Belloni, President Trump wants Rush Hour 4 to happen, and it’s in progress. However, things in Hollywood do not always run smoothly, and reviving that franchise will take the combined talents of its original director, Brett Ratner, and its stars, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, to actually happen.

Belloni reports that Trump rallied on behalf of Ratner to his buddies at Paramount and that producer Tarak Ben Ammar has lined up financing. Belloni says that this is confirmed, though no official statement has yet been made.

Music video director turned movie director Brett Ratner helmed all three Rush Hour movies. (He also directed D’Angelo’s first music video for “Brown Sugar,” which helped bolster both of their careers.) But Ratner became a Hollywood pariah in 2017 after multiple sexual misconduct allegations. His career was recently revived by directing the Melania Trump documentary for Prime Video, scheduled for release in 2026.

David Ellison runs Skydance, and his father, Larry, is one of Trump’s major financial supporters. Though David oversaw Paramount’s merger to form the new company Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros. Discovery is not yet under the Paramount umbrella. The company and its assets, which include New Line Cinema, owner of the Rush Hour franchise, are currently fielding offers from Netflix, Comcast and Paramount Skydance.

Rush Hour debuted in 2008 and grossed a gazillion dollars at the box office, leading to sequels in 2001 and 2007. The three movies combined have grossed $849M worldwide. Since then, the franchise has gone cold, but Trump’s involvement has made it hot again.

Chan expressed his support for RH4 on the Karate Kids: Legend red carpet in May. He told Liam Crowley of Screen Rant, “Ask the director, ask the studio, ask the writer,” when he was approached about the possibility of another film. He added, “Hurry up! Otherwise, Chris Tucker and me [will be] 100 years old. We’ll be old men doing Rush Hour.“

In 2023, Tucker also said he would be interested in doing Rush Hour 4 as he “loves working” with Chan.

Paramount Skydance’s CBS News division is now run by Bari Weiss, the former conservative blogger turned media maven, She is expected to bring an “anti-woke” sensibility to its forthcoming programming that will be shared by its entertainment division as well.

Film producer Dallas Sonnier told Semafor that with the change of ownership at Paramount, viewers can expect “a wave of classically male-driven movies with mentally tough, traditional, courageous, confident heroes. Maybe even a tad cocky, but dedicated to honor and duty. Plus, of course, a few explosions, gun battles, helicopters, fistfights, and car chases!”

He may be right. Trump has also expressed his support for the 1998 movie Bloodsport starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.

See social media’s reaction to Trump’s Rush Hour obsession below.