Rush Hour

Background:

“In Hollywood, you gotta keep the movement. You gotta have three or four projects and whichever one comes in first, or better, that's the one you're going to do.” Brett Ratner

Film director Brett Ratner started out as a music-video director. A good friend of Def Jam’s Russell Simmons, he has directed music videos for such rap and pop stars as Jay-Z, Jessica Simpson, Heavy D, Wu Tang Clan, D’Angelo, Jodeci, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Foxy Brown, Public Enemy, P Diddy and Madonna, among many others.

Ratner made his film directional debut with the action/comedy Money Talks (1997), starring Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen, and broke into Hollywood by directing the smash hit cop buddy movie starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, Rush Hour (1998; 2001; 2007). Meanwhile, he has also helmed the drama The Family Man (2000; starring Nicolas Cage), Red Dragon (2002; starring Anthony Hopkins and Edward Norton), the prequel to the 1991 Academy Award-winning film Silence of the Lambs, the action/comedy After the Sunset (2004; starring Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson), and the third installment of X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006; starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen and Anna Paquin). He is also a producer on the Fox drama, "Prison Break."

“Why do I need final cut? Final cut is for artistes quote unquote--directors whose movies don't make a lot of money. Maybe Scorsese should have final cut because a guy like Harvey Weinstein or a studio might change it to make it a little more accessible or a little more commercial and he has a vision of what he wants it to be. He wants it to be four hours long or whatever.” Brett Ratner

Ratner is currently making his upcoming film, Carnaval 3D: The Magic & the Music, a musical documentary about Brazil's annual street party in Rio de Janeiro, starring Quincy Jones, and an untitled crime/action/comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock. He is also executive producing an upcoming drama film directed by Robert Luketic, 21. It stars Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne.

“Brian DePalma's Scarface; I can't find one flaw in that film, not even in the wardrobe or a prop or the way the characters wore their hair. Every choice was perfect.” Brett Ratner

The filmmaker, whose favorite film is Scarface (1932) and favorite film director is Hal Ashby, was on Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List. On a more personal note, the 5' 8" director was romantically linked to various women, including Jennifer Meyer (West Coast beauty editor for Glamour; dated in summer and fall 1999), actress Rebecca Gayheart (directed her in the short What Ever Happened to Mason Reese,1990; together from 1989 to summer 1999; reportedly reconciled in 2001), Serena Williams (2004), Alina Puscau (dating since August 2005) and Hollywood starlet Lindsay Lohan (rumored to have had a brief fling in 2006).

“I tell them perseverance is important. Never give up. That's the most important thing. If you give up, you are never going to know if you could have made it. If you make 80 or 100 short films, music videos or commercials and no one has recognized your work, maybe it's time to quit; but otherwise keep going. My goal is that I want every film to be better than the last one. You also have to choose your battles. That's very important. You can't fight everything because then nobody wants to work with you. You have to be somewhat political and figure out how to get along with everyone and fight for what's important.” Brett Ratner

Socialite

Childhood and Family:

“I've been a dreamer and a storyteller since I was a boy. I loved telling stories to my family to get their reactions. I directed about a hundred music videos at the beginning of my career and experimented with different types of lenses, film and lighting. That taught me each decision makes a difference. I also learned that neither instincts nor style can be taught or bought. Just like Stravinsky was born to be a composer, some people are meant to be filmmakers and every one of us is different. I love feeling challenged and directing films where the actors breathe life into their characters and make them feel like real human beings. Casting is one of the most important things I do, and that includes the cinematographer, production designer and rest of the crew as well as the actors. Every one of them has answers to pieces of the puzzle. My goal is to make every film I direct better than the last one. If you don't challenge yourself, no one else is going to do it for you.” Brett Ratner

The only child of the family, Brett Ratner was born on March 28, 1969, in Miami Beach, Florida. His mother is a famous Jewish socialite mother, Marcia Ratner, who was just 16 when she gave birth to him. His grandmother, Finata Pressman, is also a well-known socialite in Miami. Ratner's maternal grandparents immigrated to Cuba and then the United States.

Ratner attended schools in Miami where he was a lackluster student. While studying at Miami Beach Senior High School, he was President of the Leo Club in 1986 and was also a member of the "fraternity" Royal Palm. He was a drama student of well-known instructor Jay W. Jensen.

At age 16, Ratner moved to New York to attend New York University (NYU), a school he chose primarily because it was Martin Scorsese's alma mater. He said, “I saw Raging Bull when I was 11 and it blew me away. I decided I wanted to be a director like Martin Scorsese. I heard that he went to NYU (New York University) and decided that was where I was going to film school. Once I made that decision, I wanted it to happen as fast as possible. I normally would have graduated from high school when I was 18, but I convinced my mom on two separate occasions to help me skip grades. I graduated from high school in Miami Beach, Florida, when I was 16 and applied to NYU. The problem was that my grades weren't good enough because all I did was shoot film. My counselor at school suggested that I go to NYU for an interview and show them my films. I thought I could charm my way in, but the woman who interviewed me said I needed a 4.0 grade point average. I kept telling her my briefcase was filled with my films and I had brought a Super 8 projector with me so I could show them to her.”

Attending the prestigious Tisch School for the Arts, he received scholarships from Steven Spielberg's company Amblin Entertainment to fund his thesis project, Whatever Happened to Mason Reese, a documentary about a child star.

Being asked on what he told the dean to convince him to accept him into NYU, Ratner recalled, “I told him that I had been dreaming about making movies for my entire life. I said, ‘If you don't let me in I'm probably going to be living on my mom's couch for the rest of my life.’ He told his secretary to get my file on his desk the next morning. Three weeks later, I got a letter that said I was accepted into NYU Film School.”

Ratner now serves on the Dean’s Council of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and is also a guest lecturer at the New York Film Academy and USC. The Rush Hour director said, “That's why I go to universities all around the county and I speak to students and I tell them how I did 'Rush Hour' and what the process was. Once you hear someone talk about it and hear the experience that they went through, it becomes easier. So that's something that I love doing for other people because it was the way that I learned how to make movies.”

As of 2006, Ratner currently lives in a $3.6 M house in Beverly Hills, California. He is also a good friend of fellow NYU student, Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons, and has directed music videos for many rap stars.

“Am I Orson Welles? Obviously not. But 50 years from now, who knows how as a person, I'll have grown. I've already changed, from being a 26-year-old kid to a 38-year-old guy. I'm not a man yet, really. But as I get older, who knows how my experiences and my knowledge this past 12 years making movies, how that's all going to affect the movies that I make? I know that the life I lived from 16 to 26 allowed me to make a movie like Rush Hour, so now let's see.” Brett Ratner

In the Director's Chair

Career:

“I got a gift of a Super 8 mm camera from a family friend when I was eight years old. I shot films after school every day. The actors were my friends and family. I shot hundreds of Super 8 films before I went to college. I even convinced an American history teacher to let me shoot a film instead of taking a test.” Brett Ratner

Making his first "movie" at eight years old with a camcorder, Miami-native Brett Ratner relocated to the Big Apple to enter the university once attended by his favorite director Martin Scorsese, the NYU Film School, at the age of 16 and became the department’s youngest film major. The aspiring filmmaker was accepted at the prestigious Tisch School for the Arts, where he received a $5000 check from Steven Spielberg's production company Amblin Entertainment to fund his senior project, Whatever Happened to Mason Reese (1990; featuring then-girlfriend Rebecca Gayheart), a 12-minute documentary about the former 1970s child actor made famous by appearing in Underwood Deviled Ham lunch meat commercials. The film later earned Ratner a number of student awards.

“I never planned to be a music video director. I admired Hal Ashby, Martin Scorsese, Ethan and Joel Coen, and Spike Lee, the latter who made their first features with their credit cards. What happened was that I met Russell Simmons who started Def Jam. I showed him my short film and he screened it for this group of rappers. One of them wanted me to do their next video. I was thinking I'm going to get paid to learn. The first video I directed was budgeted for $30,000. The second one had a $50,000 budget, and then it climbed to $80,000 and $100,000, until finally I was directing multi-million dollar music videos. When I was shooting in film school, a wheelchair was my dolly and I had a 16 mm ARRI SR camera with three lenses. Suddenly, I was directing videos using 35 mm film, Steadicams, real dollies and a crane. That's when I started understanding how to use these tools to tell stories. I was also working with talented young cinematographers, including Aaron Schneider (ASC), Lance Acord (ASC) and Mark Reshovsky (ASC). I was working with a different guy every time because I learned new things from all of them.” Brett Ratner

While studying at NYU, Ratner met fellow student Russell Simmons, founder of the hip-hop record label Def Jam, who recruited him to direct a music video featuring Run DMC. Through his friendship with the hip-hop impresario, Ratner continued to launch a successful career in music videos. He has directed a string of music videos for such artists as Jay-Z, Jessica Simpson, Heavy D, Wu Tang Clan, D’Angelo, Jodeci, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Foxy Brown, Public Enemy, P Diddy and Madonna, among others. He won a MTV Video Music Award for “Best Video for a Film” for Madonna’s “Beautiful Stranger” from the Austin Powers soundtrack.

“There's no difference between a tacky Jew from Miami and a rap star. They both want the Cadillac and the Rolex with the diamonds.” Brett Ratner

Once vowing that he would not direct movies until he had directed at least 100 music videos, Ratner eventually landed his first feature directing job in 1997 when Russell Simmons recommended him as the replacement director for the original director of the action/comedy Money Talks. The film, which stars Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen, tells the story of a small-time huckster (played by Tucker) who makes a deal with a TV journalist (played by Sheen) for protection after being hunted by police and criminals.

“When I came on the set for the first time for my first movie (Money Talks; 1997), we had a $20 million budget. Charlie Sheen and Chris Tucker were the stars. They told me, 'Brett, this scene doesn't work.' I re-read the scene and told them they were right, it doesn't make sense. There were 100 people on my crew and it was costing something like $200,000 a day, but I sat down and rewrote that scene and then we shot it. My professor forcing me to rewrite the script under pressure prepared me for that moment!” Brett Ratner

The following year, Ratner paired the high-pitched, wise-cracking Chris Tucker and the naive hyper martial arts master Jackie Chan as two detectives who are sent to get back the kidnapped daughter of the Chinese Consul in his sophomore effort, the action/comedy/buddy cop film Rush Hour (1998). The film was a smash hit, becoming the 7th top grossing film of the year, with a gross of over $140 million dollars at the box office. It became New Line Cinema's highest grossing film up to that date and made Ratner an instant hot director. The film won a great deal of praise, including an MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker), an ALMA for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film (Elizabeth Peña), a BMI Film and TV Award, and a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Duo- Action/Adventure (Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker).

“I used to be envious of guys like Paul Thomas Anderson or Wes Anderson, and I thought one day I'll make an important film and have the respect of my peers. After I did 'Rush Hour,' I got three calls: Jonathan Demme, Warren Beatty and Roman Polanski. They told me how much they loved 'Rush Hour'. I thought, 'Wow,' directors aren't snobs. They appreciate a well-made movie, no matter the genre. Those guys gave me respect. They befriended me and I got over the need to make an 'important' film just to do it.” Brett Ratner

Meanwhile, Ratner produced Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, as well as directed and executive-produced a TV series, Partners (1999). He also had a small acting part as himself in Black and White, a 1999 feature about a group of inter-racial teens in New York City.

“...I just cried. I knew I had to make this movie. I never would have been interested in making a romantic comedy before this.” Brett Ratner (on reading the script for The Family Man (2000)

Entering the new millennium, Ratner ventured away from urban and action comedies in 1999 by directing the under-achieving drama The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage as a single, wealthy Wall Street merger and acquisition investment banker living the high life in New York City, and Tea Leoni as his college sweetheart/wife. The film, a "It's A Wonderful Life" tale about a man (Cage) who is given a glimpse at what could have been if he had made a different decision 13 years ago, had modest success at the box office and with critics. It won a Saturn Award for Best Actress (Téa Leoni), a BMI Film Music Award (Danny Elfman), a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Comedy/Romance (Nicolas Cage) and a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Age Ten or Under (Makenzie Vega).

“I think the fans of 'Rush Hour' are going to see the movie and they're going to be happy. They're going to be pleased. This is a good movie. Nobody did it just to get rich.” Brett Ratner on Rush Hour 2 (2001)

Although The Family Man was not well-received, Ratner managed to reach the limelight again with the phenomenal success of the Rush Hour second installment, Rush Hour 2, in which Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan's characters became embroiled in a counterfeit money scam while having a vacation in Hong Kong. Released on August 3, 2001, the film proved to be another record-breaking box office hit, grossing US$347,325,802 at the world-wide box-office, making it the 4th top grossing film of the year.

2001 also saw Ratner executive produce Patty Jenkins' 18-minute film Velocity Rules and produce George Gallo's action/comedy film starring Orlando Jones and Eddie Griffin, Double Take. Afterward, Ratner landed the much-coveted director's job on Red Dragon (2002), the prequel to the 1991 Academy Award winning film Silence of the Lambs. The thriller film was adapted from the mystery thriller novel written by Thomas Harris featuring the genius psychiatrist and serial killer Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins). It also starred Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson and Harvey Keitel. It was a box office success, earning $92,930,005 in the US, and received a mixed reaction from many critics. It won an ALFS Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year (Emily Watson), a Taurus Award for Best Fire Stunt (Keii Johnston), and a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actor Age Ten or Under (Tyler Patrick Jones). The film also received a nomination for Best Film at the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival.

“When Jonathan Demme said make your own version, I couldn't see anyone but Anthony Hopkins and I couldn't see anyone but Anthony Heald as 'Dr. Chilton.' I can't see another actor doing it. But what happened was I went down to the FBI and discovered they're like tough New York Cops. They weren't like Scott Glenn.” Brett Ratner (explaining his recasting of the role of 'Jack Crawford' with Harvey Keitel in Red Dragon (2002)

Also in 2002, Ratner produced the true story-based movie Paid in Full, starring Wood Harris and Mekhi Phifer. Additionally, he executive produced then-girlfriend Rebecca Gayheart's 22-minute film Me and Daphne and Philip W. Chung's A Ribbon of Dreams.

In 2004, Ratner directed Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson in After the Sunset, a comedy/action movie about a master thief (Brosnan) caught in a cat-and-mouse game with an FBI agent (Harrelson). On how long he cast for the film, Ratner recalled, “Pierce was on the movie before me, which is why I did it. I was on Rush Hour 2 and I got a call from my assistant saying 'Pierce Brosnan wants to see you,' so I said, 'OK, have him call me.' 'No, he wants to meet you in person.' 'OK, tell him I’m back in LA in a month.' 'He wants to see you tomorrow.' So he flew to Vegas where I was shooting Rush Hour 2 and we sat down. I didn’t know him as Pierce Brosnan, I knew him as James Bond. He said he wanted me to direct the next James Bond and I was like, Jesus, I need to pinch myself. Then he said, 'Of course I have no say in who directs it.' So I met with the Broccolis and of course they didn’t hire me. So when this came up I took it. It’s usually me chasing the actors, rarely is there an actor who comes after a director. Salma (Hayek) I knew and I just felt she was perfect for the movie, but otherwise, Naomi (Harris). I tend to do screen tests, old-fashioned screen tests, to see if there’s chemistry. Even two great actors you can get them together and it’s flat. She really stole the part when she came in and tested against a bunch of different actors. She was great.”

The next year, Ratner went to executive-produce the Fox prison drama, “Prison Break,” and also directed the pilot episode. The show is about a wrongly convicted man (played by Dominic Purcell) who plans to escape his death sentence with the help of his younger brother (played by Wentworth Miller). During this time, Ratner also produced David Steiman's horror/comedy film, starring Bill Goldberg, Santa's Slay.

Ratner was to direct Superman Returns (2006), but quit the project due to the repeated delays and difficulty in casting a lead actor (Ratner reportedly wanted an unknown while the producers wanted a star). The project then went to Bryan Singer, while Ratner went on to direct the third installment of X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Ratner replaced director Matthew Vaughn just two months before filming X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) began. He later admitted it came as a big surprise when he got the invitation to take on the last X-Men movie, saying, “Yeah, I thought that my chances were gone. I said, once I’d left Superman, I said, ‘Well, Bryan’s doing X-Men and Sam Raimi’s doing Spider-Man. Batman is now Chris Nolan’s movie, so I’ll never get another opportunity.’ Then when Bryan left, I thought, ‘Oh, s**t. Wow, this is a great opportunity for me.’ I wasn’t going to do Superman so I put out to the universe that I wanted to do a superhero movie.”

X-Men: The Last Stand, the third film adaptation of the Marvel Comics' X-Men superhero comic books, stars Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen and Anna Paquin. Released on May 26, 2006, the film did extremely well at the box office despite mixed reviews from critics and fans of the comic book series. Its opening-day gross of $45.5 million is the fourth-highest on record while it’s opening weekend gross of $103 million is the fifth highest ever.

About the tone of the story of X-Men: The Last Stand, Ratner explained, “The movie’s really about power, the use and misuse of power. It’s really about a choice and it deals with alienation. Someone invented a cure for being a mutant and so they face a choice, whether to conform and become human, to one prejudice, or they maintain their uniqueness or identity and their powers and embrace what makes them different. It’s really about what kind of choice does the cure offer.”

And when asked about the future of the X-Men film franchise, he said, “I think they all could come back in one form or another. There could be an Xavier School film, there could be a Wolverine film, there could be a Magneto film. All of them could possibly come in and out of these other movies. We’ve done enough in the X-Men movies.”

Meanwhile, Ratner also executive produced Andy Cheng's political thriller starring Cuba Gooding Jr., End Game (2006), and produced Wayne Kramer's crime film Running Scared (2006), starring Paul Walker.

Since 2002, Ratner has been signed on to direct the third installment of the Rush Hour franchise, Rush Hour 3, but the project had to be delayed for several years because of one of the film’s lead actors. Ratner revealed, “Chris (Tucker) wasn’t ready. Everyone has to be ready. When Chris isn’t ready, I go do Red Dragon. When Chris isn’t ready, I go do The Family Man. When Chris isn’t ready, I go do X-Men. Then when he’s ready, he comes around and we do it. So now he’s doing it. He’s (Chris Tucker) been doing other things. I want him to work with other directors – maybe he’ll appreciate me more! But I’m flattered that he only wants to work with me. I couldn’t wait to shoot Rush Hour. I can’t wait to get to the set. We’re there with Jackie (Chan), who’s the greatest guy in the world, Chris, who’s a good friend. It’s just so much fun. And there’s loads of pressure but somehow there’s more pressure because we look at each other and go, ‘We’ve done this before. This is ridiculous.’”

Rush Hour 3 was released on August 10 2007, in Canada, the US, and UK. It became the fourth highest grossing film ever for the month of August. However, compared to the previous installments, Rush Hour 3 has grossed 55 million less in its first 3 weeks of release, although it has a 140 million dollar budget compared to 90 million of Rush Hour 2.

“Rush Hour (3) is going to be much easier, much, much, much easier because there’s no visual effects involved. The visual effects are daunting. They’re overwhelming. It’s out of your hands. You draw it, you design it, show the people.” Brett Ratner

Meanwhile, Ratner, alongside Carrie Fisher, Garry Marshall, and Jon Avnet, served as a judge for Fox's filmmaking-competition reality TV series, “On the Lot,” which premiered in May 2007. He also produced Les Mayfield's action/comedy Code Name: The Cleaner (2007; starring Cedric the Entertainer, Lucy Liu, Callum Keith Rennie and Nicollette Sheridan) and executive-produced several episodes of ABC’s police procedural and legal drama "Women's Murder Club."

Ratner is currently sitting in the director's chair filming his upcoming project, Carnaval 3D: The Magic & the Music, a musical documentary about Brazil's annual street party in Rio de Janeiro, starring Quincy Jones, and an untitled crime/action/comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock. He is also executive-producing an upcoming drama film directed by Robert Luketic, 21. It stars Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne.

Besides known for his film-making talent, Ratner is also known for his dedication and leadership in helping economically disadvantaged homeless individuals change their lives through jobs and is the recipient of the Spirit of Chrysalis Award. He is currently on the board of Chrysalis, and Best Buddies.

Ratner has also tried his hand at the world of book publishing. He published the controversial book, Naked Pictures of my Ex-Girlfriends, and authored Hilhaven Lodge: The Photo Booth Pictures, which was released in October 2003. He has recently ventured into still photography and his shots have been featured in Vanity Fair and graced the covers of Vogue Homme and V-Life. In addition, he has shot fashion campaigns for Baby Phat and Jimmy Choo.

“No matter how successful you are, you are not invincible. The studio is writing the checks. It's all about leverage and who has the power. The goal is to get the biggest deal you can, because you are going to have to give something back to the studios anyway.”

Awards:
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