Brett Ratner Boards Air Force One to Scout Rush Hour 4 in China

Brett Ratner is making the most of a presidential trip. The Rush Hour director flew to China aboard Air Force One with President Donald Trump this week, using the diplomatic visit to scout filming locations for Rush Hour 4 — the long-awaited sequel that’s been nearly two decades in the making.

Ratner’s spokeswoman Victoria Palmer-Moore confirmed to the New York Post that the director will also be meeting with potential cast and crew while in the country. It’s a busy itinerary for a man who’s quickly become one of the more unlikely figures in Trump’s orbit.

How Trump Became Rush Hour’s Biggest Champion

The sequel’s momentum traces directly back to the Oval Office. Trump has been openly vocal about wanting the franchise revived — and he’s put his connections to work on it. According to the New York Post, the president encouraged his billionaire ally Larry Ellison to resurrect the mismatched-buddy-cop series after Ellison’s Paramount Pictures acquired rights-holder Warner Bros. Discovery. That’s some serious executive producing energy from a sitting president.

The original Rush Hour trilogy — starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker — was a massive franchise for Warner Bros., with the last installment, Rush Hour 3, hitting theaters back in 2007. A fourth film has been rumored, teased, and hoped for by fans ever since. Now, with Trump in the mix and Ratner on a plane to Beijing, it’s starting to feel like something might actually happen.

Ratner’s Ties to the Trump World

This isn’t Ratner’s first project in Trump’s circle. He directed the 2026 Amazon-backed documentary Melania, which followed First Lady Melania Trump through her return to the White House for the president’s second term. That film put Ratner squarely in the administration’s good graces — and apparently earned him a seat on one of the world’s most exclusive aircraft.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Ratner’s inclusion in the delegation.

Ratner is traveling alongside some of America’s top business leaders as part of the broader U.S. delegation. But while the suits around him are likely talking trade deals, Ratner has his eye on something else entirely — the streets, skylines, and settings that could bring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker’s world back to the big screen.

Nearly 19 years after Rush Hour 3, the franchise’s fourth chapter might just get its start on a presidential trade mission to China. Stranger things have happened in Hollywood. Not many, but a few.