It’s the buddy cop franchise that keeps on giving as Chris Tucker confirms he and Jackie Chan will be back for Rush Hour 4.
Focusing on Tucker’s Detective James Carter and Chan’s Chief Inspector Lee as they meet from two different sides of the world, 1998’s Rush Hour became a surprise hit. Earning an impressive $244.4 million at the worldwide box office against a budget of just $33 million, it brought the boys back for two more installments and a big question mark hanging over a fourth movie. Fans have been waiting over a decade for any concrete news, but it looks like the boys will be backflipping into theaters once again.
Chan had already said he would return to the series last year on The Cruz Show, but Tucker has remained quiet on the situation until now. Speaking on ESPN’s podcast, The Plug, he reiterated that he and Chan will be practicing their best martial arts skills to make the trilogy into a quadrilogy:
Tucker is certainly hyping that Rush Hour 4 will be bigger and better than the previous movies, but having already toured Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Paris where can we go next? The 46-year old doesn’t tell us how long will it be before Carter and Lee polish their badges and head back out on the mean streets for another installment, but with both stars speaking in relative succession, it surely can’t be that long before production begins.
“It’s happening. This is gonna be the rush of all rushes. Jackie is ready and we want to do this so that people don’t ever forget it.”
Given that the series bowed out with Rush Hour 3 in 2007, do we really need to go back? Director Brett Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson joked on the DVD commentary that a fourth movie could come out in 2012, but that obviously did not come to pass. Also, with Ratner’s recent sexual assault allegations, it would be highly unlikely that he could return, let alone that fans would warm to the idea. However, with Rush Hour being Ratner’s baby, would it be the same without him?
Also, let’s not forget (even if many would like to) the short-lived Rush Hour TV series. Airing on CBS for a single season in 2016, it seemed that fans couldn’t get behind a small screen version of Carter and Lee - and possibly the franchise as a whole. We may be caught in the era of remakes and reboots, but alongside the likes of Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Beverly Hills Cop, even the biggest of fans might struggle to find an argument that Rush Hour hasn’t already had its day. That being said, it looks like Chan and Tucker are keen to bring the cops back out of retirement for one more day on the job.
More: 15 Things You Never Knew About Jackie Chan
Source: The Plug
