David Squires delves into… Donald Trump’s desire for ‘Rush Hour 4’
Donald Trump is no stranger when it comes to strong-arming Hollywood with curious demands. Every Christmas, he crops up, peculiarly, in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, much to an equal measure of chagrin and confusion among a certain percentage of the proletariat.
According to the director, Chris Columbus, this scene was never planned upon. “Like most locations in New York City, you just pay a fee and you are allowed to shoot in that location,” he explained to Business Insider. “We approached The Plaza Hotel, which Trump owned at the time, because we wanted to shoot in the lobby.”
The production couldn’t afford to build the Plaza’s lobby on a soundstage, so they were at the mercy of the billionaire. “Trump said OK. We paid the fee, but he also said, ‘The only way you can use the Plaza is if I’m in the movie’,” a confused Columbus recalled.
Now, it seems that as President, he is utilising even more leverage over Hollywood. In his latest caper, at the behest of his bid to revive “raucous comedy and action movies”, Rush Hour 4 has been rushed into the works. Allegedly, this has been something Trump has been eager to bring to fruition ever since Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker called time on the franchise.
Propaganda? A President making Hollywood his plaything? Profiteering on a zeitgeist in need of play? Some other unscrutable power move? David Squires’ latest Far Out comic looks to lift the lid on these questions and bring a parodied inside scoop on whatever the bloody hell is going on with a Rush Hour 4 that only one man was asking for.
