Jackie Chan revealed to fans that he is now in discussions to produce a fourth Rush Hour movie during a rare on-stage visit at the Red Sea Film Festival on Thursday.
He informed the festival attendees that they were now discussing part 4 and that he will be meeting with the movie’s director this evening to go through the screenplay. The three prior versions were all directed by American director Brett Ratner, albeit he did not include his name.
Since 2014, Ratner has not helmed a motion picture. The producer-director was accused of sexual harassment and assault by seven women, including actors Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge, in November 2017. As a result, Warner Bros. severed all relations with the producer-director with whom they had a lucrative contract.
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Between 1998 and 2007, Chan co-starred in three Rush Hour movies with actor and comedian Chris Tucker. In order to investigate a string of worldwide crimes, the franchise follows a Hong Kong detective inspector who develops an odd friendship with a loudmouthed LAPD officer.
The first Rush Hour brought in $244 million for New Line Cinema globally, solidifying Hong Kong-born Chan as a leading action figure in the English-speaking world. However, Chan claimed that he anticipated the movie to be a financial failure and that, as a result of the lack of intriguing roles he had been offered, he had decided to permanently leave Hollywood.
“I tried so many times to go to Hollywood, but after that, I said no more Hollywood because my English is not good, they’re not my culture, they don’t like this kind of action,” he said.
Chan claimed that he only only received scripts about East Asian detectives in America, but when the Rush Hour script came across his desk, he was eager to broaden his creative horizons.
“My manager said look, there’s a script, and it’s called Rush Hour. I said no, Hong Kong police? I’m not going to do it. He said Jackie, why don’t you try last time. I said okay, this is the last time.”
After the first film was released, Chan said he received a call from Ratner and Tucker, who said, “Dude, we’re a huge success. We’re 70 million in the first weekend.”
“For me, I don’t have a count of what 70 million is. I don’t know the box office. I just know its certainly a success. And then they made part 2 and part 3,” he added.
Later on in the lecture, Chan discussed how he got his start in the film industry working as a stuntman for Bruce Lee. He claimed that Lee liked him on the set of Fist of Fury and frequently hired him for overtime work so that he could earn more money from the project.
Chan also informed the crowd that he will have worked in the film industry for 60 years in 2022.
Nevertheless, Chan said to the festival audience that he hopes to do “less action stories, more love stories” in the future and that he is presently working on a project that he defined as a “drama film for women.” Chan has had a long and successful career as an action hero.
“I hope very soon it can release here,” he told the audience. “It’s a drama film. And it’s made for women. I hope one day you can see it.”
