It's been almost 10 years since Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) and Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) last joined forces in 2007's Rush Hour 3. Throughout the years, there has been talk of another Rush Hour sequel, but there haven't been any substantial updates in quite some time. During an appearance at the Sun Valley Film Festival, filmmaker Brett Ratner revealed that he thinks this action sequel will happen. Here's what he had to say in a brief statement at the festival, while jokingly revealing a possible title.
"I think it will happen; we're talking to writers. We could call it Grumpy Old Rush Hour."
 
While the filmmaker wouldn't elaborate more on this sequel to Entertainment Weekly, he may be onto something in regards to the title. While Chris Tucker was still a rising star when the first Rush Hour hit theaters in 1998, the actor is now 44 years of age, while the legendary Jackie Chan is 62 years old, although both have certainly shown no signs of slowing down in recent years. Still, it remains to be seen if fans would even get behind another sequel, especially considering the downward box office trend of the original trilogy.


The first Rush Hour movie followed LAPD detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), who is saddled with the lousy assignment of keeping Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) away from the FBI investigation into the kidnapping of a young Chinese girl. The movie was a surprise hit, earning $141.1 million domestically and $244.3 million worldwide, from a $33 million budget. The 2001 sequel Rush Hour 2 was an even bigger hit, shifting the action to Hong Kong, earning $226.1 million domestically and $347.3 million worldwide from a much larger budget of $90 million. Six years later, Rush Hour 3 hit theaters, bringing back both Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan once again as Carter and Lee, but it earned just $140 million domestically and $258 million worldwide, from a bloated $140 million budget.

Most recently, Brett Ratner tried to shift the franchise to the small screen, with the filmmaker executive producing the Rush Hour TV series with Bill Lawrence (Cougar Town). Justin Hires and John Foo were cast as Carter and Lee, with a supporting cast that included Aimee Garcia, Page Kennedy, Wendie Malick and Kirk Fox. The show was picked up to series by CBS, but it was canceled back in May after just one 13-episode season. Despite the failure of the TV show, it seems Brett Ratner is determined to make Rush Hour 4 work on the big screen.



Back in 2012, Brett Ratner said that he wasn't too happy with Rush Hour 3, hinting that he would like to bring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan back, but also introduce two new characters that the story would center on. It isn't known if this is still the approach Brett Ratner is taking with Rush Hour 4, but if it does move forward, hopefully we'll have a better idea of whether or not Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan will be back, and in what capacity. It isn't known if Brett Ratner would come back to direct Rush Hour 4, since he hasn't directed a movie since 2014's Hercules, starring Dwayne Johnson. He has been keeping plenty busy on the producing side, though, serving as a producer on The Revenant, Black Mass and War Dogs, just to name a few.