Donald Trump reportedly wants to revive ‘Rush Hour’ franchise in Hollywood shake-up
Donald Trump is reportedly aiming to revive the art of “raucous comedy and action movies” in a shake-up of the current Hollywood landscape.
According to Semafor, the US president is allegedly putting pressure on Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder at Paramount and one of his most prominent financial supporters, to create a fourth instalment of the Rush Hour franchise.
Ellison’s son, David Ellison, currently runs the film studio, which is currently pursuing Warner Bros to acquire the rights to all their previous productions, including Rush Hour.
The outlet reported that Trump is seeking to reinvent the era of “raucous comedy and action movies” from the late 1980s and early ‘90s, and has personally campaigned to Ellison to make a Rush Hour 4.
The original Rush Hour franchise, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, was a buddy-cop series of comedy films which featured many tropes that may be deemed inappropriate today, including gags revolving around racial stereotyping.
Rush Hour’s first stint ran from 1998 to 2007, where it was initially deemed a breakout hit before it squandered at the box office upon its last instalment to date, grossing $265.5 million, considered a failure at the time.
Rumours of a Rush Hour 4 have existed prior to Trump’s alleged latest push, as in 2022 Chan and Tucker both revealed they had been in talks for the project, although no further details have materialised since then.
Paramount nor The White House have yet responded to the claims, but it comes as Trump previously vowed to shake up the American entertainment landscape. At the start of his second term, he appointed Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight as special envoys to Hollywood.
More recently, he has also claimed he will rename the renowned Kennedy Center after himself, and will also personally host the upcoming Kennedy Center Honors ceremony, set to take place on December 7th.
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