Brett Ratner made a high-profile trip to China on Air Force One in President Donald Trump’s latest show of support for the controversial director.
The once-cancelled director will use the trip to scout the sites Rush hour 4his first feature film since being accused of sexual misconduct and harassment in 2017 (he has always denied any wrongdoing). The buddy cop film, which is being distributed by Paramount Pictures, reunites Ratner with franchise stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
Trump left Edwards Air Force Base on Tuesday to attend a summit in Beijing that will include a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
the South China Morning Post He was the first to report that Ratner was among those traveling with Trump, along with the reasons why, and Ratner’s spokeswoman Victoria Palmer-Moore later confirmed the trip. However, it remains unclear whether he is part of the official summit delegation, a list that includes Elon Musk.
Ratner’s presence wasn’t a huge surprise, considering he directed the Amazon MGM Studios film. Melaniathe behind-the-scenes documentary that highlights First Lady Melania Trump as she prepares for her husband’s second inauguration. The film, which was released in theaters in late January, grossed $16.4 million at the domestic box office before hitting Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service.
In November 2025, several months after David Ellison officially became the new owner of Paramount, Trump appealed to his old friend and billionaire Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father, for a helping hand. At the time, multiple sources said from rival legacy studios Hollywood Reporter So while Rush hour 4 Possessing huge box office potential, associating himself with Ratner wasn’t worth the negative headlines.
The younger Ellison has also established his own relationship with Trump, and is counting on continued Oval Office support for his bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. WBD is home to CNN, which has long been a target of Trump’s wrath. Trump has been very pleased with the conservative-leaning changes Ellison has made at CBS News since his Paramount acquisition. Now, all eyes will be on what Ellison does with CNN.
Paramount, which is not involved in financing or production Rush hour 4referred questions about Ratner’s trip to China to his production company, RatPac Entertainment (the production company is owned by London-based Access Entertainment, led by Len Blavatnik and James Packer).
the first Rush hour The 1998 film was Ratner’s first major success on his way to developing two more films in the buddy cop series that collectively earned more than $850 million at the worldwide box office, without adjusting for inflation.
In an exclusive interview with THR In January, Ratner denied using it Melania As a starting point for launching a return. “This is ridiculous,” he said. “If anything, this was a bigger risk because of the polarization and the subject matter. I didn’t do this to get me back in Hollywood. That wasn’t my strategy. I was waiting to do this.” Rush hour 4 – That was my strategy.
