President Trump has reportedly pressured Paramount head Larry Ellison to make another sequel to Rush Hour, his favorite buddy-cop movie, as the company looks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
The first Rush Hour film, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, was released in 1998, received positive reviews, and made $245 million worldwide. Chan and Tucker returned for two sequels released in 2001 and 2007 respectively.
For years, rumors have swirled about whether Rush Hour 4 would ever get off the ground. Back in 2017, Jackie Chan fueled that excitement when he revealed that a script was already finished. But momentum stalled almost immediately.
Soon after Chan’s comments, Warner Bros. cut its relationship with director Brett Ratner following multiple allegations of sexual assault, accusations Ratner has consistently denied and for which no criminal charges were ever brought.
According to a source with direct knowledge of recent discussions, Trump has personally urged Paramount’s top leadership to bring Rush Hour back to life.
If Warner Bros. Discovery is absorbed into Paramount, it would mark a decisive win for the studio, led by Ellison's son David Ellison, who would have outmaneuvered both Netflix and Comcast in the race to scoop up Warner’s extensive film library and production assets.
In the past, Brett Ratner’s reputational fallout likely kept any Rush Hour revival off the table. But Trump’s continued rapport with the the filmmaker (who made Amazon's recent Melania Trump documentary) could shift that calculus.
Trump has shown an eagerness to resurrect the loud, big-budget action-comedies that defined the late 1980s and 1990s (he has a well-known fondness for Bloodsport, the 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme classic).
Additionally, Arthur Sarkissian—best known for producing the Rush Hour films—also heads the production company behind The Man You Don’t Know, a flattering Trump biographical film that debuted at Mar-a-Lago in 2024.
The news was weird... and the jokes came flying.
According to Semafor, which broke the story, "Trump convincing the Ellisons to make a new installment of Rush Hour, whose broad racial humor might have been unwelcome a few years ago (if not much earlier), may be one of the capstones of his cultural influence as president this time around."
"Successful politicians often embrace elements of culture, or ride certain cultural forces to victory," the report notes. But entertainment and culture most often flows against the president once they come into power, not towards them.
As of today, however, it looks as though the project will move forward.
Earlier this week, The Guardian revealed that Ellison and senior White House aides have talked through which on-air figures might be dismissed if Paramount succeeds in purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent of CNN. Paramount is also expected to emerge as the primary broadcaster for the much-discussed UFC bout that is reportedly being planned for the White House lawn.
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