One could imagine that Brett Ratner is not in the greatest of places right now. While his 2011 action comedy Tower Heist was a modest success, the director's latest movie, Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson, has been under-performing since it was released in late July. Given this bad fortune, it would surprise nobody if Ratner tried to jump back to his most reliable franchise, the Rush Hour series, and make a new sequel and grab some quick cash. The bad news is that if he wants Jackie Chan on-board, he would have to produce one hell of a script.
The legendary Chinese action star was in London, England this week for the premiere of his latest directorial effort, Chinese Zodiac, and following the screening he participated in a Q&A with British television host Jonathan Ross. It was at this time that Chan began talking about doing both a Rush Hour 4 and/or a Drunken Master 3. As reported by IGN, the actor has interest in neither film - despite being approached - until he is shown a script that is actually worth taking the time to bring to life.
Chan admitted that he was actually just contacted about the idea of doing a Rush Hour 4 recently - though he didn't say exactly who it was that contacted him. Instead of just thinking about the project as a hypothetical, the actor said that he wouldn't have any interest unless the pages were put in front of him. He explained,
"I said ‘No, show me the script first. I don’t need another Rush Hour 4. You need Rush Hour 4. Show me the script.’ I don’t want to do a rubbish script just because they want to make the movie."
That's some pretty awesome anti-cash grab kung-fu! While his comments about Rush Hour 4 were brief, he went more into detail about his lack of motivation to make Drunken Master 3. The project has apparently been talked about for years, but nobody has ever been able to actually put together a screenplay. Breaking the series down, Jackie Chan explained that the first Drunken Master was a comedy about drinking and fighting, and that Drunken Master 2 was more about the consequences of drinking and fighting - a result of Chan's own personal maturity. He continues to wait on a proper script for Drunken Master 3, but in a way he also feels that he has already made it:
"When I was making The Karate Kid, when Jaden Smith was training, I was sitting there, then I looked at myself and realised this is Drunken Master 3. Now I’m becoming the master. And Jaden becomes Jackie Chan."
Jackie Chan is now 60 years old, and thanks to decades of success probably has no real need to take part in sequels that serve no real purpose for existing. Here's hoping that the studios don't try and go around his back and make Rush Hour 4 without him.
It's unfortunate that it is unclear if Rush Hour 4 is happening. However, if you are looking to add the first three in the series to your dvd or blu-ray collection, you can check that out here.
