By Ryan Gowland
The past five years have been completely "Rush Hour" sequel-free, but whether you've been craving a fourth installment to the franchise or not, one is in the works anyway as long as it's "done the right way" which apparently still means Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and Brett Ratner.
That seemed like an impossibility a year ago, when Ratner told Vulture that it would be too expensive "to pay me, Chris [Tucker], and Jackie [Chan] to come back" for "Rush Hour 4," but according to franchise producer Arthur Sarkissian, that's exactly what's happening.
Read more after the jump!
"I am working on 'Rush Hour 4' right now with Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan," Sarkissian told Crave Online at the Television Critics Association press tour. "I'm trying to do it closer to how I did 'Rush Hour 1,' more down to earth, more gritty, introduce two new characters and make it real the way the first one was. I personally was not happy with the third one. I thought 1 and 2 were very good. I think 3 got out of hand a little bit. It's not a matter of just bringing them back to do another segment of that or a sequel to it by putting them in another city and having them bicker. I don't want that. I want something new."
Who exactly those "two new characters" might be is unknown, but Sarkissian suggested that they could be two younger cops or perhaps wives of the two leads. "Maybe younger, maybe Chris is now married, maybe Jackie is married to Octavia Spencer, I don't know," said Sarkissian, adding Spencer's name into the mix even though "The Help" actress did not appear in any of the "Rush Hour" films. "Married to Chris's cousin, they live in Shanghai, Chris goes out to visit them. I don't know."
Without a screenplay written, Sarkissian is merely speculating about the potential sequel, though it is still possible Ratner could be brought in to direct, despite Sarkissian's admitted unhappiness with "Rush Hour 3," saying that if Ratner "wants to do it he's more than welcome to do it, but he's got to do it in the right way." That would mean adhering to Sarkissian's "gritty" take, which could mean a sequel that takes its inspiration from the "Fast and the Furious" franchise.
"One of the things that surprised me and actually excited me was how they did 'Fast Five,'" said Sarkissian. "They kept the characters, they took them and they put them in a whole different world. They put them in the world of a heist movie and it worked. I think that was brilliant what they did because if you're not careful, what happens is you just keep repeating yourself."
According to Sarkissian, both Chan and Tucker are interested in returning, and more will likely be revealed once he chooses between the "four or five names" of screenwriters that they are considering.
Do you want to see a fourth "Rush Hour"? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!
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