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rushhour
KICK ME SIGN Martial artist Chan hangs loose in 'Rush Hour'
Bob Marshak

Making a sequel to "Rush Hour" is a no-brainer. New Line's cop comedy starring motormouthed Chris Tucker and killer-kicking Jackie Chan is the fall's runaway hit, with a box office take close to $120 million. But the follow-up will be made without "Rush Hour"'s screenwriter, Ross LaManna. "I would be scared about failing with the sequel and people saying, 'It doesn't capture the magic of the first movie!'" LaManna tells EW Online. "Besides, a story for the sequel totally confounds me -- how do you top the original?"

LaManna admits that the decision wasn't entirely up to him. "One of the producers really wanted me to do it. But some of the other guys had their own ideas. Everybody involved in the movie has their own best friend, and everybody wanted their best friend to work on it."

LaManna isn't complaining. When he originally shopped "Rush Hour" around Hollywood as a spec script, he never dreamed that it would eventually go on to gross $33 million in its first weekend alone -- the biggest September debut ever. And he certainly never would have guessed that he'd start a trend: Arsenio Hall has signed to join Asian martial artist Sammo Hung on ABC's "Martial Law" as -- you guessed it -- a fast-talking L.A. cop. "Imitation," says LaManna, "is the sincerest form of television."


Posted Nov 02, 1998 | Order Article Reprints