Brett Ratner Scours China Locations for Rush Hour 4 on Air Force One
brett ratner flew aboard Air Force One with Donald Trump this week and used the trip to scout possible filming locations for Rush Hour 4. The visit turned a presidential China trip into a location-recon mission for a franchise that once made Ratner a breakout director.
Air Force One to Beijing
Ratner traveled as Trump headed to Beijing, and the plan was simple: look at places that could work for Rush Hour 4. The reports were first published by the South China Morning Post, and Victoria Palmer-Moore later spoke for Ratner to back the account.
The project would reunite Ratner with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Paramount Pictures is handling distribution, but it is not directly financing or producing the film, which leaves the package unusual even by franchise-sequel standards.
Ratner and Rush Hour
The timing matters because Rush Hour 4 would be Ratner’s first narrative feature since multiple sexual misconduct and harassment accusations surfaced against him in 2017. Ratner has denied all allegations, and his return to a scripted feature would put him back behind the camera after years away from that lane.
His own January line laid out the strategy bluntly: “That’s ridiculous,” he said when asked whether directing Melania was just a way to restart his Hollywood career. He added, “I’ve been waiting to make Rush Hour 4; that was my strategy.”
Trump, Ellison, Paramount
Trump reportedly encouraged billionaire Larry Ellison to support Ratner’s Rush Hour 4 plans after David Ellison took control of Paramount in 2025. Questions about Ratner’s involvement were directed toward RatPac Entertainment, which places the project inside a larger studio power shift rather than a simple revival pitch.
The franchise still has commercial weight. The original Rush Hour was Ratner’s breakout success in 1998, and the trilogy earned more than $850 million worldwide, enough to keep the title meaningful for a distributor even without a full financing commitment.
Melania and the comeback
Amazon MGM Studios released Ratner’s documentary Melania earlier in 2025, and it reportedly earned more than $16.4 million domestically before arriving on Prime Video. That release kept Ratner visible in Trump-related projects and gives this trip a business logic beyond nostalgia.
For now, the practical read is clear: Ratner is using the China visit to advance a franchise sequel, not just to talk about it. If Rush Hour 4 moves ahead, the next decision point is whether the location scouting turns into a real production plan with the Chan-Tucker pairing attached.
