Report: Donald Trump ‘pressed’ Paramount to bring back cancelled director Brett Ratner
In Hollywood, you’re rarely cancelled forever.
Unless you’re physically locked up in prison, a la Harvey Weinstein, those former bright lights are always trying to claw their way back.
It helps to have a backer, and as much as Penelope Cruz is throwing her support behind Johnny Depp, even her influence can’t beat that of Donald Trump.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.According to reports from Puck, ousted producer and filmmaker Brett Ratner could be making his way back into the inner circle, with Paramount in conversation to distribute a Ratner-directed Rush Hour 4.
In the MeToo wave, Ratner was accused of sexual misconduct, which he denied, by six women including actors Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge. After the allegations were made public, studio Warner Bros announced it was severing its ties with him.
At Warners, Ratner made the first three Rush Hour movies which were released in 1998, 2001 and 2007, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as two police officers who, despite their culture clash, work together to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a diplomat.
The first film was a commercial hit but by the time of the third, it was a case of ballooning budgets and diminishing returns.
So, why would Paramount consider getting into business with a filmmaker who is persona non grata on a franchise that no one is clamouring to see return? Tucker has made two movies in the past decade and Chan is now 71 years old.
According to Semafor, Trump “personally pressed” Larry Ellison, who owns Paramount along with his son David, to revive the Rush Hour franchise with Ratner at the helm.
Ratner is a frequent guest at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago and has just spent many months shadowing Melania Trump for a documentary project he is directing, which Jeff Bezos bought for Amazon at the cost of $US40 million.
Industry consensus is that the price tag was steep for the three-part docuseries, and that Bezos overpaid as a gesture to Trump. The Melania doco is Ratner’s first production since the 2017 allegations.
As owner of The Washington Post, Bezos blocked the publication from endorsing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential elections. He said it was to avoid the appearance to “media bias”.
Under the potential Rush Hour 4 deal, Paramount would not finance or produce the film, it is merely for distribution.
Paramount is currently one of three bidders to acquire Warner Bros, and any transaction will likely need federal government approval.
Earlier this year, in the merger process between Paramount and Skydance, the latter of which was David Ellison’s company, the studio was accused of capitulating to Trump when it cancelled Stephen Colbert’s late night show on its broadcast network, CBS. Colbert is a frequent critic of the president.
Warner Bros still owns the rights to the franchise but last year, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the studio had earlier allowed producers to shop a sequel elsewhere. At that time, other studios including Sony declined to make the film.
Ratner started his entertainment career as a director of music videos before he made his feature debut in 1997 with Money Talks. His other credits include The Family, X-Men: The Last Stand, Tower Heist and Silence of the Lambs prequel Red Dragon.
In 2012, Ratner formed with James Packer the production business RatPac Entertainment. Packer’s ownership in the venture was acquired by Len Blavatnik’s company Access Entertainment in 2017.
