Rush Hour 4 is reportedly moving forward, with Paramount Studios stepping in to distribute the next instalment of the beloved action-comedy series.

According to several media outlets, US President Donald Trump personally encouraged the studio to revive the franchise.

The film is expected to reunite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker nearly twenty years after the previous movie. Director Brett Ratner, whose career took off after the success of Rush Hour (1998), is also attached to the project.

The original trilogy followed two mismatched cops navigating danger, humour, and cultural differences as they tackled international crime a formula that found huge success among global audiences.

Ratner has largely been absent from Hollywood since 2017, when multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

In the years since, he and his producing partners attempted to revive Rush Hour 4 at major studios including Sony, Lionsgate, and Paramount, but none agreed to move forward.

Momentum shifted when Ratner grew close to the Trump family while directing Melania, an upcoming Amazon MGM Studios documentary about former First Lady Melania Trump a project Variety reports was acquired for around $40 million.

The documentary is Ratner’s first major work since the allegations surfaced. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount CEO David Ellison whose father Larry Ellison is a key Trump supporter received a direct request from Trump to help restart the Rush Hour franchise.

While The Hollywood Reporter expresses caution about how concrete the project truly is, Variety appears more confident that the new instalment is happening.

The Guardian adds that the film is being framed within a boader push by Trump to bring what he calls " old-fashioned masculinity" back to Hollywood a claim that has sparked debate, especially in a time when many call for greater respect, equality, and sensitivity within the entertainment industry.