Apparently, Hollywood needed a grown-up to step in and tell them what audiences actually want—so President Donald Trump did exactly that. According to Semafor, Trump personally nudged Paramount owner Larry Ellison to stop greenlighting forgettable “message movies” and instead revive a franchise that people actually loved: Rush Hour.
Yes, that Rush Hour—the 1998 buddy-cop smash starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, back when action comedies were allowed to be funny, politically incorrect, and wildly entertaining. The original trilogy, all directed by Brett Ratner, became global hits long before Hollywood decided jokes needed sensitivity training.
Semafor reported that Trump has a soft spot for the unapologetic action films of the late ’80s and ’90s. He’s even a fan of the 1988 Jean-Claude Van Damme classic Bloodsport, and according to a source “directly familiar with the conversations,” the president “has personally pressed the Paramount owner to revive another franchise from Ratner: Rush Hour,” praising its mix of martial arts, slapstick chaos, and jokes about racial stereotypes—comedy that would send today’s Hollywood press into cardiac arrest.
And it gets better. Two days after the report, Puck’s Matthew Belloni confirmed the news and liberals promptly clutched their pearls.
“I teased this last night in ‘What I’m Hearing’ but now confirmed: Paramount WILL release Rush Hour 4 after prodding from Trump on behalf of Brett Ratner,” Belloni posted. He added, “Distribution deal. Producer Tarak Ben Ammar is lining up financing. Get ready for the dumbest possible state-controlled media.”
Translation: Hollywood is furious Trump is creating better content than they are.
Of course, the usual suspects are revving up the outrage machine because Ratner is still attached. He was accused in 2017 by several women—including Olivia Munn and Elliott Page—of sexual misconduct, which led Warner Bros. to sever ties. Ratner hadn’t directed a film in over a decade, though he recently resurfaced with a documentary on First Lady Melania Trump, which certainly didn’t score him any points with the media establishment.
Still, Paramount looks ready to go full speed ahead, with Trump of all people jump-starting the return of a franchise audiences actually asked for.
