Paramount To Distribute Rush Hour 4 From Brett Ratner, With Chris Tucker And Jackie Chan Reportedly Returning
Paramount will distribute Rush Hour 4 as Brett Ratner returns to the franchise and Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan reportedly gear up for a long-awaited reunion.
Well, this got interesting. Deadline says Paramount is stepping in to handle distribution on Rush Hour 4, and the plan is for Brett Ratner to return with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan back in action. Yes, that combo.
Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?
What Deadline is reporting
- Paramount will distribute Rush Hour 4 on behalf of Warner Bros.
- It is a fee-for-service deal: Paramount gets a double-digit percent distribution fee to release the movie.
- Multiple studios passed on taking the movie out, including Warner Bros' own New Line, which released the first three films.
- Brett Ratner is attached to return to the franchise.
- Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan are expected to reunite.
- The original trilogy pulled in around $850 million worldwide, fueled by Tucker and Chan's chemistry, jokes that did not always age gracefully, and Chan doing jaw-drop stunt work.
The wrinkle
The arrangement is a little industry-nerdy: one major studio (Paramount) distributing a project for another major studio (Warner Bros) for a healthy fee. You do not see that every day, and the fact that several shops reportedly passed first — including New Line, the label that launched the series — makes the handoff even more eyebrow-raising.
So, what now?
No dates or additional details yet — just that the band is lining up to get back together and Paramount will be the one getting it into theaters. I will update when we get anything concrete beyond that.