New Line Cinema is finally ready to roll with the third installment of the hugely successful Rush Hour films after Chris Tucker gave his nod. Tucker will star in the film with Hong Kong movie legend Jackie Chan.
The studio had originally penciled in the sequel sometime in 2003, but despite being offered $20 million, Tucker for some reason declared himself unavailable after demanding script approval. Jackie Chan, director Brett Ratner and screenwriter Jeff Nathanson also got busy with other projects and the sequel remained on the drawing board and never took off.
Jackie Chan was busy with The Myth in which he co-stars with Indian sex kitten Mallika Sherawat. Ratner directed the 2004 thriller After the Sunset and was supposed to do the new Superman movie, but he dropped out at the last minute. Nathanson was busy scripting Indiana Jones 4 for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
But now, Variety says that all the four principal characters for the sequel have signed on the dotted line. The movie is about two cops, one from Los Angeles (Tucker), the other from Hong Kong (Chan), who team up to overcome the villains. It is basically an action-comedy genre, something which both Tucker and Chan excel at.
Last April, New Yorker had reported that Tucker will still be able to command $20 million. Additionally, he is also expected to get 20 percent of the back-end gross. These terms are also set to be the same for any future film, but Tucker had to give up the script approval demand.
Jackie Chan will get $15 million against 15 percent of the gross. But since he owns the distribution rights of the movie in China and Hong Kong, it is safe to say that his financial situation will be enhanced to a better degree form the sequel.
Director Ratner will command $5 million along with five gross points, while Nathanson has agreed to a seven figure payout. New Line has projected a budget of $120 million for the film.
