Rush Hour is back among the most watched films on Paramount+ in the United States, 28 years after it reached cinemas in 1998. FlixPatrol ranked it at No. 8 on the service’s United States film chart on October 30, 2026, according to Men’s Journal. It had been on the chart for several days before that date, and it reached No. 5 on October 23. The sequel sat at No. 10 on October 30, giving the franchise two titles in the top 10 at the same time.
MovieWeb reported that the film entered the United States top 10 within a day of its arrival, at No. 9 on October 4, with the sequel at No. 10 behind it. The Spun reported that it ranked between No. 8 and No. 10 from October 8 to October 12, then returned at No. 9 on October 14.
What Rush Hour is about
Rush Hour is a buddy cop action comedy directed by Brett Ratner. Jackie Chan plays Chief Inspector Lee, a Hong Kong detective who travels to Los Angeles to help find the kidnapped daughter of a Chinese diplomat. Chris Tucker plays Detective James Carter of the Los Angeles Police Department, whom the FBI assigns to keep Lee out of the way. The pairing drives the film, as Lee’s careful method meets Carter’s loud and fast-talking style.
The film runs 97 minutes. MovieWeb put it at 62 percent with reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, against a 79 percent audience score.
It opened on September 18, 1998. It took $33 million in its opening weekend in the United States, matching its reported $33 million budget in three days, according to Box Office Mojo figures cited by The Spun. It went on to earn $141 million in the United States and $244 million worldwide. For Chan, it was his first film to pass $100 million at the domestic box office.
Why Rush Hour is charting again
Streaming charts reward films that viewers can start at once, and Rush Hour fits that pattern. It is short, it is easy to follow without prior knowledge, and its central pairing is known to viewers who grew up with it or found it later on television and home video. Its arrival on Paramount+ in October also placed it beside Halloween season programming, where older titles often gain from viewers looking for a known film.
The sequel has helped keep the original in view. Men’s Journal reported on October 28 that the sequel was at No. 10 on the Paramount+ United States chart for October 27, while the original had climbed four places to No. 6 on the same list. The sequel, released in 2001, sends Lee and Carter to Hong Kong, where a vacation turns into an investigation tied to counterfeit money and organized crime. It also stars John Lone, Zhang Ziyi and Roselyn Sanchez, and it was directed by Ratner.
Rush Hour 2 opened to more than $67.4 million in the United States and earned about $347.3 million worldwide, against a reported $90 million production budget, according to Men’s Journal. The trilogy as a whole grossed roughly $850 million worldwide, according to MovieWeb.
Rush Hour 4 and the casting story behind Rush Hour
Talk of a fourth film has run beside the streaming return. MovieWeb reported that a fourth film is on Paramount Skydance’s development slate, at a time when Paramount Skydance is pursuing Warner Bros. The original was a New Line film, which makes it Warner Bros. library material, yet it is now drawing viewers on Paramount+. MovieWeb also reported, citing Puck, that Chan and Tucker turned down opening offers of $8 million each for a fourth film in April, a steep drop from the roughly $20 million each reportedly earned on the third film in 2007. Those salary reports remain reports, and no start date for a fourth film has been confirmed in the reporting cited here.
The casting history adds another detail to its return. The Spun reported, citing MovieMaker, that Eddie Murphy was offered the role that went to Tucker, and he turned it down to make the 1998 comedy Holy Man instead. The choice shaped the film, since Tucker’s pace and delivery became part of how audiences remember Carter. Chan’s physical comedy and stunt work became the other half of the pairing, and the contrast between the two leads still carries the film for new viewers.
For now, the numbers tell a plain story. Rush Hour has held a place in the Paramount+ United States top 10 through much of October, and Rush Hour 2 has charted beside it. The films are available to stream on Paramount+, and their chart runs have put a 1998 release back in front of viewers who may not have seen it in a cinema.