I liked the first Rush Hour. An inoffensive film that exposed Jackie Chan to a wider audience and came out at a time before the name “Ratner” was synonymous with “uber-douche,” it was harmless fun. And it’s cemented itself as the successor to Lethal Weapon in many ways, as the franchise’s downward trajectory in quality (even as it kept the same creative players) mirrors similarly to that of Riggs and Murtaugh.
And if you were one of the dozens who loved Chris Tucker, the Rush Hour franchise became your one-stop shop. After assembling a once sort-of promising career, Tucker’s only screen credits would be Rush Hour movies for an astounding period of 14 years (he performs alongside Robert DeNiro in Silver Linings Playbook this year). Instead of taking a chance that work elsewhere would lower his $20 million asking price for Rush Hour 2 & 3, Tucker’s sat the last decade out. Can you guess what his next movie is? Rush Hour producer Arthur Sarkissian thinks he knows. Via Crave:
“I am working on Rush Hour 4 right now with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. I’m trying to do it closer to how I did Rush Hour 1, more down to earth, more gritty, introduce two new characters and make it real the way the first one was. I personally was not happy with the third one. I thought 1 and 2 were very good. I think 3 got out of hand a little bit.”
I remember watching Rush Hour and thinking “This is fine, but what I’d really like is to spend another 7+ hours with these guys.” Tucker and Chan are willing to return but there’s no screenwriter at this time. Also unconfirmed is whether Brett “Rehearsal is For Fags” Ratner would be willing to come back. With Tower Heist shitting the bed as magnificently as it did, I can’t imagine his asking price being anything more than “One sandwich and perhaps a cot, but only if it’s not too much to ask.”