While Jackie Chan was busy promoting Karate Kid: Legends, he also let fans know that Rush Hour 4 isn’t dead yet. The legendary action star confirmed that he’s still down to return as Inspector Lee, and he wants everyone else to hurry up already.
“I don’t know. Ask the director, ask the studio, ask the writer,” Chan joked on the red carpet with ScreenRant. “Hurry up! Otherwise, Chris Tucker and me [will be] 100 years old. We’ll be old men doing Rush Hour.”
But honestly, we’d still show up for Rush Hour: Retirement Home Rumble if it meant seeing Chan and Tucker back on screen together. But for now, Rush Hour 4 remains in development limbo.
Jackie Still Wants That Smoke
Despite the uncertainty around who’s writing or directing, Chan says the script is still being worked on. “And I want to do [another] Shanghai Knights, Shanghai Dawn,” he added, referencing another fan-favorite franchise. “The script is still going on. I want to do a Rush Hour 4.”
Tucker has also expressed interest, hinting at the return of the “dynamic duo” in a new adventure. “You’re going to see a lot of good stuff coming, but it’s going to be on a whole other level,” he told V-103 back in 2022. “Rush Hour 4, that’s something I definitely will probably drop in there because I love working with Jackie.”
While director Brett Ratner, who helmed the original trilogy, is no longer an active presence in Hollywood, the potential for a new director or production team to step in is very real, especially with Lionsgate reportedly expressing interest.
Jackie Ranks the Trilogy
In a BuzzFeed segment promoting Karate Kid: Legends, Chan was asked to rank the Rush Hour trilogy. At first, he hesitated. But then he was brutally honest.
“You know what, the first one: little money, little time. We shot it like, ‘Go, go, go, go!’ The second one: a lot of money, a lot of time. The third one: too much money, too much time. Too much money is no good.”
Translation? Bigger budgets don’t always equal better movies. And let’s face it, the original Rush Hour was lightning in a bottle. A $35 million budget, two global stars with unmatched chemistry, and a perfect mix of action and laughs. It made $244 million worldwide and became an instant classic.
The second film raised the stakes and the budget to $90 million and raked in $347 million globally. But by the time Rush Hour 3 rolled around in 2007 with a bloated $140 million budget, the magic was fading. It still made money, $258 million to be exact, but critical reception had cooled.
Will We Ever Get Rush Hour 4?
There’s no official release date or confirmation from New Line Cinema, but Chan’s excitement gives fans a reason to stay hopeful. Whether or not Rush Hour 4 actually happens remains up to the powers that be, but both Jackie and Chris are ready.
