Chris Tucker Signs On To 'Money Talks 2'


Chris Tucker who is said to be the highest-paid actor who never works is set for back-to-back sequel duty, in Money Talks 2 and Rush Hour 2, according to Variety.

At Tucker's behest, New Line has begun to develop Money Talks 2, the sequel to the action comedy that helped make Tucker a star. Money will do the talking if Tucker does that film and "Rush Hour 3:" his sequel price is $20 million against 20% of gross for each film.

The studio is looking to hire a writer and has already begun courting Charlie Sheen to return as Tucker's co-star. Brett Ratner, who directed the original 1997 Money Talks before twice re-teaming with Tucker on the Rush Hour films, might direct the Money Talks sequel.

The $20 million against 20% quote was Tucker's payday for Rush Hour 2, a deal that marked the largest jump in salary in movie history. Tucker was paid less than $2 million for the first Rush Hour. He and Jackie Chan proved worthy of their big raises: the sequel's $330 million worldwide business surpassed the original's worldwide gross of $250 million.

The Money Talks development is surprising, not because of the sequelization of a modest hit, but rather because it has been impossible to get Tucker to do anything but Rush Hour films. Despite his obvious talents in comedy and the dramatic flair he showed in Dead Presidents, Tucker hasn't acted in three years, since Rush Hour 2 was released in 2001.

Re-matching Tucker and Chan as culture-clashing cops in Rush Hour 3 has proved difficult because of a budget well north of $100 million.

The original Money Talks was a launching point for both Tucker and Ratner, though that could hardly have been predicted when the latter replaced Steve Chase as director just weeks before principal photography began. The film, which cast Tucker in the role of a scam artist named Franklin Hatchett, put his hyperkinetic comic ability on full display.

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