Jackie Chan is an action superstar, and we love him for his death-defying stunts, coupled with impeccable comic timing. No one has mastered cross-cultural movies like him, but recently, he reflected on one of his most successful franchises and called it a bit of a misfire.
Now, Chan is not your typical Hollywood hero because his career has lasted more than five decades, with over 200 movies where he’s carved out a unique niche for himself. But it seems like even living legends like him aren’t immune to the downside of showbiz.
Jackie Chan on the budget of Rush Hour 3
Jackie Chan seems to be less than impressed with Rush Hour 3, and it seems to be about the movie’s budget and box office collection. During his promotional tour for Karate Kid: Legends, where he reprises his role as Mr. Han, the actor revealed something we didn’t expect during an interview with Buzzfeed Celeb.
You know what, the first one: little money, little time. We shot it like, ‘Go, go, go, go!’ The second one: a lot of money, a lot of time. The third one: too much money, too much time. Too much money is no good.
His words are in reference to the Rush Hour franchise and how increasing funds with every movie didn’t turn out to be a smart move on the financial front. Now, this often happens in the industry because excess funding can actually hinder creativity. With a leaner budget for the first movie, creators are usually fast and inventive.
By the time more installments roll in, the production is bloated with cash and time, and in the process, they lose that grit that made the original so sharp. A sound strategy for a movie series could be to increase the budget by some percentage, while keeping the innovation alive, and avoiding franchise fatigue, because sometimes, too much comfort can kill creativity, and affect the box office pull.
How the Rush Hour trilogy proves Jackie Chan’s point
To understand Jackie Chan’s criticism, let’s look at the evolution of the Rush Hour trilogy, where every movie took a bigger leap in scope and scale but not in substance. The original was released in 1998, and it introduced us to Chan’s Lee, a Chief Inspector who is calm, precise, and a martial arts expert, paired with Chris Tucker’s loudmouth LAPD detective, James Carter.
The movie raked in $245.3 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of only $35 million (via The Numbers). In Rush Hour 2, the duo headed to Hong Kong and uncovered a counterfeiting scheme that was tied to Lee’s father’s death. This time around, the stakes were bigger, and so was the production budget, which had now been increased to $90 million, but the global box office returns were still good, as it brought in $347 million.
Now, the final installment featured Lee and Carter in Paris, where they stop a Triad conspiracy which involves Lee’s long-lost foster brother. And even though the stunts were slick, the movie lacked freshness, and the formula felt stretched. Despite doubling the budget to $180 million, people felt like this installment was a letdown down and this reflected in the box office figures as its worldwide gross was only $256 million.
Still, Jackie Chan’s Rush Hour trilogy remains one of the most iconic cross-cultural buddy cop sagas. His critique of the third movie isn’t complaining, but a rare and honest insight from a seasoned artist who has seen both sides of the industry and knows when style overtakes substance. In a world that equates bigger with better, Chan knows that simplicity, sincerity, and hard work matter most.
You can now watch the Rush Hour trilogy on HBO Max (USA).
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
