Will a ‘Rush Hour’ Sequel Resurrect Brett Ratner?
In July, Lionsgate executives gathered for a routine greenlight meeting. On the agenda, however, was not a typical project. The studio was looking at Rush Hour 4, the long-talked-about next installment in the action comedy franchise. In different times, it might seem like an attractive idea for Lionsgate — which has an interest in building franchises to complement its John Wick series — or any studio looking to capitalize on audience nostalgia with well-known IP.
But doing the movie would mean potentially working with franchise filmmaker Brett Ratner, who, according to a source, was a part of the pitch as the project’s potential director and producer, despite having not worked in Hollywood for the past seven years, since he faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment in 2017.
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At the time, Ratner strongly denied all allegations of sexual misconduct, and no charges were brought against him. He was dropped by his agency and has yet to make a film since. When emailed about the project and his potential of directing Rush Hour 4, Ratner replied that the query was filled with “gross inaccuracies” and would not provide further comment.
Multiple sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Warner Bros., the longtime distributor of the Rush Hour films that were homegrown by Warners’ New Line Cinema division, years ago allowed Rush Hour 4 to be licensed elsewhere. It’s a surprising move given the films were lucrative for the studio. Tarak Ben Ammar, the veteran exec whose recent credits include Equalizer 3, has retained the rights to make Rush Hour 4 under his Eagle Pictures banner. Ben Ammar is behind one of Italy’s largest production and distribution outfits and, at one time, was one of the acquirers of the Weinstein Co. library. He has been liaising with potential partners on Rush Hour 4; Arthur Sarkissian, the original producer of the Rush-Hour franchise, is attached to produce with Eagle Pictures.
Ratner has pushed to direct a fourth Rush Hour film for years. But his involvement has been a nonstarter for several studios, including Paramount and Sony, which had heard about the package. (A representative for Ben Ammar denied Ratner’s attachment on Rush Hour 4.)
The two stars of the franchise, Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, have been floated as a potential part of the project, but a source close to the actors notes their attachment is not official. In the past couple of years, both Chan and Tucker have talked about their desire to return for the next Rush Hour installment.
Ratner had a successful career as a music video and studio filmmaker in the ’90s and 2000s, before his big break with the first Rush Hour film in 1998. He directed the next two movies, with a collective franchise gross of more than $500 million at the domestic box office alone.
In 2017, six women accused Ratner of sexual misconduct as part of a Los Angeles Times report. The story included allegations of forced oral sex by actress Natasha Henstridge, while Olivia Munn claimed that the director masturbated in front of her after she was tasked with delivering food to his trailer on set when she was an aspiring actress.
To get made, Rush Hour 4 would need domestic and international distribution partners. While a potential domestic distributor wouldn’t own the library rights to the other Rush Hour films, any buyer would get a ready-made franchise installment while Warners would get a licensing fee.
A potential new Rush Hour film is indicative of larger trends in Hollywood filmmaking, where one studio’s IP is another’s potentials franchise, and nostalgia is marketable. Recently, a sequel to Warners title The Accountant, the Ben Affleck-led action thriller, landed at Amazon MGM several years after Warners announced it was developing a follow-up to the film. Artists Equity, Affleck and Matt Damon’s new production outfit, was able to license the sequel rights from Warners for one movie, with the studio landing an undisclosed fee.
As for the box office, new tentpole fare has fallen flat this year. Lionsgate’s videogame movie Borderlands bombed, earning $13 million in domestic ticket sales, while Universal’s action comedy The Fall Guy has been seen as a disappointment even with $92 million in North American sales.
Whereas the latest installment of Bad Boys franchise, which like Rush Hour gained popularity in the 90s and early aughts, was one of the sole bright spots in the early summer box office. Bad Boys 4 has earned nearly $400 million at the global box office, with $200 million coming from domestic ticket sales.
In a current Hollywood landscape where box office receipts have been spotty at best, an IP-backed feature with the risk partially underwritten like Rush Hour 4 is a tempting offer.
As of press time, it is unclear whether Lionsgate will be boarding the next installment.
This story appeared in the Aug. 21 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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