Donald Trump has reportedly leaned on his Paramount producer friends to revive "mentally tough" Hollywood movies.
The president has, according to Semafor, "personally pressed the Paramount owner" to revive Rush Hour, the buddy-cop comedy film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Trump had previously announced ambassadors to the "great but very troubled" Hollywood and is still seemingly pushing for more changes in film.
Trump called on Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone to be ambassadors for Hollywood earlier this year, with a Truth Social post confirming the surprise appointments. He wrote, "It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!"
Trump's continued interest in Hollywood was made clear by film producer Dallas Sonnier, who predicts Trump will have some influence in what Paramount and other film studios start producing.
He told Semafor the president wants "a wave of classically male-driven movies with mentally tough, traditional, courageous, confident heroes. Maybe even a tad cocky, but dedicated to honor and duty. Plus, of course, a few explosions, gun battles, helicopters, fistfights, and car chases!"
Semafor editor Max Tani suggested the Brett Ratner-directed Rush Hour series is on Trump's radar, with the president personally calling Paramount producers to see if any progress had been made on a fourth instalment.
Tani wrote, "Trump appears to want to revive the raucous comedies and action movies of the late 1980s to late 1990s. He’s passionate, for instance, about the 1988 Jean Claude Van Damme sports flick Bloodsport."
"A person directly familiar with the conversations told Semafor that the president of the United States has personally pressed the Paramount owner to revive another franchise from Ratner: Rush Hour, a buddy-cop comedy starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker that blended physical comedy, martial arts, and gags about racial stereotypes."