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Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

One of the few good things you can say about our decades-long relationship with Donald Trump is that he still knows how to surprise us. Expect him to tear into the upstart politician he’s branded a “communist lunatic”? He’s so charmed by New York’s mayor-elect that he starts doing Zohran Mamdani cosplay. Assume he has a basic understanding of what magnets are and how they work, since he’s graduated high school? Think again!

His latest unexpected maneuver: using the full power of the presidency to … reboot the Rush Hour movies? Semafor reported on Sunday night that Trump has been pressuring his billionaire friend Larry Ellison, the largest shareholder of Paramount, to bring back the Jackie Chan–Chris Tucker franchise:

But now Larry Ellison, one of Trump’s most prominent financial supporters, owns a second-tier studio, Paramount, and is on the cusp of taking control of the great Warner legacy, with the giant library and sprawling production that come with it.

… Now, the president is offering some creative input on potential upcoming projects.

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.

In days of yore, no one would expect the president to use his influence to get his favorite Hollywood project made. While that does seem like the kind of weird 12-year-old boy request Trump would make, it’s surprising that he cares so much about Rush Hour in particular. You can picture him demanding a Cats revival, another Home Alone installment, or a Gone With the Wind remake that portrays the South even more positively. But (as far as we know) Trump hasn’t been hosting Rush Hour viewing parties at Mar-a-Lago.

The only recent hint that Trump is a major Rush Hour fan (Rushie? Hour-head?) is that the franchise’s director, Brett Ratner, is directing Amazon’s forthcoming Melania Trump documentary despite being “canceled” following sexual-harassment and -misconduct allegations in 2017. And I guess you could make something of Trump trying to revive the career of Chris Tucker, another celebrity who appears in the Epstein files (and has not been accused of any wrongdoing). But let’s leave that project to the conspiracy theorists. The president just has a passion for ’90s martial-arts/buddy-cop films. Who knew?!

Trump’s Latest Power Grab: Reviving the Rush Hour Movies?

Trump’s Latest Power Grab: Reviving the Rush Hour Movies?