Brett Ratner’s 1998 cult classic may have gone down as a product of its time, but when the fastest hands in the east (Jackie Chan) met the loudest mouth in the west (Chris Tuker) it led to comedy gold, enough to spawn a further two movies that retuned the formula to varying success. Last time we saw Chan and Tucker share the screen together was in 2007 and now, almost a decade later, CBS is reviving Rush Hour for a new generation, and we now have a firm date of the show’s premiere.
It’s soon, too – March 31, to be exact. Picking up the mantle from Chan and Tucker are newcomers Justin Hires and Jon Foo, who assume the roles of Detective James Carter and Chief Inspector Lee. In anticipation of the show’s premiere, CBS pitched the drama as a “reimagining of the hit feature film franchise, is a buddy-cop drama about a maverick LAPD detective and a by-the-book detective from Hong Kong who knock heads when they are forced to partner together.”
One defining factor that will make or break the network’s Rush Hour reboot will be the potential chemistry between its leading duo. Critical reception aside, the on-screen partnership of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan was at times effortless, which leaves Hires and Foo with a difficult act to follow. And we’ll be able to gauge just how Blake McCormick and Bill Lawrence’s shapes up in late March.
While assembling its schedule for the upcoming season, CBS also noted that the premiere of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders has been bumped by two weeks, meaning that the procedural won’t air until Wednesday, March 16 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) as opposed to March 2.
Rush Hour, meanwhile, hits the small screen for the very first time on Thursday, March 31 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT).
