“Rush Hour 4” in the Works After President Trump Intervened to Revive Franchise (Report)

Rush Hour 4 is in the works, reportedly after President Donald Trump lobbied Paramount Skydance shareholder Larry Ellison on behalf of director Brett Ratner.

Multiple outlets report that Paramount is reviving the Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker action-comedy franchise with Ratner, director of the original 1998 film, returning to helm it. 

The move comes “after prodding from Trump on behalf of” Ratner, Puck’s Matthew Belloni wrote on X.

Per The Guardian, Trump, 79, lobbied for a Rush Hour 4 with Ellison, a billionaire and the father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. David’s father, Larry, is the company’s largest shareholder.

PEOPLE has reached out to the White House for comment. 

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

After years of rumors about a fourth Rush Hour installment, Chan, 71, confirmed in 2022 that they were “talking about” ideas. He indicated at the time that he was in touch with an unnamed director. 

Ratner, 56, was accused by multiple women — including actresses Olivia Munn and Natasha Henstridge — of sexual misconduct or harassment in 2017 amid Hollywood’s #MeToo movement. After the explosive Los Angeles Times article detailing claims against him, Ratner denied all wrongdoing, filing and later dropping a defamation lawsuit against Melanie Kohler, who accused him of rape.

The filmmaker, who directed 1998’s Rush Hour and its 2001 and 2007 sequels, also has ties to the president. In October it was announced that Ratner has in development a documentary at Amazon MGM Studios about First Lady Melania Trump. 

Ellison, 81, recently had talks with White House officials about Paramount Skydance making a deal to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a Nov. 20 report by The Guardian. Several insiders claimed that Ellison spoke with someone about potentially restructuring CNN, a network currently owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Those conversations allegedly involved firing reporters such as Erin Burnett and Brianna Keilar, who are not favored by Trump.

This is not the first time Trump has been involved in media leaders’ decisions. Earlier this year, Paramount Global made headlines for settling a lawsuit with Trump over a CBS News interview featuring him. The president had sued CBS News, accusing them of deceptively editing former Vice President Kamala Harris‘ 2024 campaign trail appearance on 60 Minutes, per reporting by Reuters. Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to Trump’s future presidential library.

In his 1987 book Trump: The Art of the Deal, the president wrote that after his 1964 graduation, he “briefly flirted with the idea of attending film school… I was attracted to the glamour of the movies, and I admired guys like Sam Goldwyn, Daryl Zanuck, and most of all Louis B. Mayer, whom I considered great showmen. But in the end I decided real estate was a much better business.”

Casting for Rush Hour 4 has not yet been finalized. After appearing in this year’s The Shadow’s Edge and Karate Kid: Legends, Chan next leads the movies Panda Plan 2 and Guo Jia Jia from his native China. Tucker, 54, last appeared on screen in 2023’s Air.