U.S. President Donald Trump is turning a surprising amount of attention toward Hollywood and has reportedly gone as far as “personally pressing the Paramount owner” to bring back Rush Hour, the buddy-cop classic starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
He has already said he views Hollywood as “great but very troubled,” and he seems determined to reshape what kinds of movies major studios start making again, according to Semafor.
Earlier this year, he announced a trio of unexpected Hollywood ambassadors, naming Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone as his chosen representatives. His Truth Social post spelled it out with his usual flair. “It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California,” he wrote. He added, “They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!”
Film producer Dallas Sonnier told Semafor that Trump’s interest is not just symbolic. He believes the president wants to influence what kinds of movies studios like Paramount start focusing on. Sonnier said the president wants “a wave of classically male-driven movies with mentally tough, traditional, courageous, confident heroes. Maybe even a tad cocky, but dedicated to honor and duty. Plus, of course, a few explosions, gun battles, helicopters, fistfights, and car chases!”
Semafor editor Max Tani suggested that the Rush Hour franchise is one of the projects Trump keeps asking about. Brett Ratner directed the first three films, and fans have been wondering for years if a fourth one would ever happen. According to Tani, Trump has been calling Paramount executives to get updates on whether anything is finally moving forward.
Tani also wrote that Trump “appears to want to revive the raucous comedies and action movies of the late 1980s to late 1990s. He’s passionate, for instance, about the 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme sports flick Bloodsport.”
A source familiar with the conversations told Semafor that the president is directly asking Paramount’s owner about reviving yet another Ratner-connected franchise. This includes Rush Hour, described as “a buddy-cop comedy starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker that blended physical comedy, martial arts, and gags about racial stereotypes.”
With the president openly pushing for a return to big action films and rowdy comedies, Hollywood may be feeling more pressure than usual from the highest office in the country. Whether Paramount decides to bring Rush Hour back remains to be seen, but it’s clear Trump wants old-school blockbusters on screen again.
