Jackie Chan Says ‘Rush Hour 3’ Had ‘Too Much Money’ for the Budget and ‘Too Much Time’ for Filming: ‘Too Much Money Is No Good’

Jackie Chan participated in a BuzzFeed video interview ahead of the release of “Karate Kid: Legends” and was asked to rank the “Rush Hour” film trilogy in order from his favorite to least favorite entry. Headlined by Chan and Chris Tucker, the “Rush Hour” movies remain some of the biggest films in Chan’s filmography. The trilogy grossed $849 million worldwide between 1998 and 2007.

“I don’t know,” Chan said, resisting to give an answer before finally summing up his thoughts like this: “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.”

Chan’s assessment of the “Rush Hour” trilogy lines up nicely with each movie’s critical and commercial success. The original “Rush Hour,” Chan’s favorite, carried a $35 million budget and went on to gross $244 million worldwide in 1998. The 2001 sequel, made for $90 million, earned an even bigger $347 million worldwide. But the 2007 third installment dropped down to $258 million despite a hefty $140 million budget. Critical acclaim for each installment also dwindled.

Chan made headlines in 2022 by saying “Rush Hour 4” is in development, although New Line Cinema has never formally announced a fourth film. Chan’s co-star, Chris Tucker, expressed his eagerness in coming back for a new movie around the same time.

“You’re going to see a lot of good stuff coming, but it’s going to be on a whole other level,” Tucker teased to Audacy’s V-103. “That’s what I like… I’m excited about that. It’s not going to be what you’ve normally seen… ‘Rush Hour 4,’ that’s something I definitely will probably drop in there because I love working with Jackie.

Watch Chan’s full BuzzFeed interview in the video below. “Karate Kid: Legends” opens in theaters nationwide May 30.