HOLLYWOOD -- U.S. comic Chris Tucker is now the $20-million man, thanks to his chemistry with Asian martial arts star Jackie Chan.
Their first collaboration, the $32-million Rush Hour, earned more than $250 million worldwide at the box office in 1998.
Now, with the sequel's budget jacked up to more than $80 million, Rush Hour 2 is set to open across North America on Friday. The stars are promising a dramatic improvement in the quality of the sequel over the original.
Both Tucker and Chan are carving big bucks out of the pie. Tucker has his $20 million, astonishing for a 28-year-old stand-up comic with only a few movie credits and only one big hit. Tucker took in $3 million for the original Rush Hour.
Chan is getting a reported $15 million plus a cut of the profits for the sequel, which means he is guaranteed to earn more than Tucker in the long run.
Meanwhile, the two co-stars are also sharing credits. Some posters list Tucker as the top name, some show Chan on top.
"It's good and I don't really care," says Tucker. "I think the billing don't matter, because everyone knows this movie couldn't be made without me and Jackie being together. It's all about me and him, me and Jackie."
As for his huge salary, Tucker is trying to be cavalier: "The $20 million don't matter, either."
Pause. Frown. Then a grin starts to crack open Tucker's face. He starts to look guilty, then embarrassed.
"Okay," Tucker says with a sudden shriek, "it do matter! All right, it feels good! I can't believe it! It's incredible! Y'all come on my boat after this!"
In this group interview in Hollywood, Tucker is all goofy-funny, telling jokes, riffing on Chan ("Jackie is so short, you can see his feet on his driver's licence!"), mock-insulting his Rush Hour director Brett Ratner, treating journalists as his stand-up audience. In a later private session with The Sun in Toronto, however, the comic is thoughtful, quiet and even introspective.
He tries to explain why he has worked so little since hitting so big in Rush Hour.
"I looked at a lot of stuff. I didn't really find something that I wanted to do. I really wanted to go to the next level and I didn't want to go backwards. Because there's not a lot of good stuff out there. I'm the kind of person that, if I do something, I have to feel good about it."
Tucker, who was born on Aug. 31, 1972, in Atlanta, fought his way to stardom as a comedian. He has a fear of failure. He wants a long career, even if he misses out on movie credits.
"Failure can kill your career. You're not bankable any more. So I try to be cautious. My thing is to feel good about what I do. I really love movies so I take my time and I'm really picky about doing them."
Is there a danger in saying no too often? "Who cares?" Tucker says. "If you know what you're doing and you keep doing good movies, then eventually you will get with good people who believe in what you're trying to do.
"You say no because it's no good. If you care about your career, you don't want to be just a flash in the pan because, once you do a bad movie, you see how many people really love you."
Next up is a comedy called Mr. President in which he plays the U.S. president. The project will shoot this fall with the filmmakers pushing to get Bill Clinton to do a cameo.
"It's a broad movie and it's a fun movie," says Tucker. In school, U.S. history passed him by. "It bored me. It was: 'So what?' But now I researched it and I know more about politics and it's fun. I know a lot more about what's going on."
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