When I last checked in on Brett Ratner’s Rush Hour 4, the auteur was understandably beaming after President Trump nudged the Ellisons into giving the film a wide release, which triggered approval from rights-holder Warner Bros. and the independent financing that would make the film possible. Alas, the planned shoot in China, Africa, and Saudi Arabia this spring or summer has been pushed to September at the earliest, per multiple sources, and it’s unclear if the planned $115 million to $120 million in production financing is solidly lined up. Producers Arthur Sarkissian and Tarak Ben Ammar still do not have deals with stars Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan (initial offers of $8 million each were rejected, I’m told; both made around $20 million for Rush Hour 3 in 2007, with Tucker making more than Chan). And producers are so far not offering pay-or-play deals, which can be a sign that financing is not locked. It got me wondering whether the turmoil in the Middle East, where Ben Ammar had raised money, might be endangering Ratner’s big post-Melania comeback, even as Paramount, which would be a passive distributor of Rush Hour 4 and collect a 12 percent distribution fee, says it has secured its $24 billion from funds in the region to buy Warner Discovery. Sarkissian and Ben Ammar both declined to comment.