"Not enough money" — Martin Lawrence claims he was offered Chris Tucker's role in Rush Hour but turned it down

American actor and comedian Martin Lawrence recently revealed that he turned down the opportunity to costar alongside Jackie Chan in Rush Hour before Chris Tucker was involved in the franchise.

On Tuesday, June 4, the 59-year-old made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with his Bad Boys: Ride or Die costar, Will Smith, to promote the new movie.

The host and the two actors began to play the 'true confessions' game, and when Martin Lawrence spoke about the 1998 film casting, Jimmy asked why he rejected the role. Lawrence claimed:

"Where did I take the call? He did my show, so we talked somewhere in between there. We talked in person, and then we had a dinner. Wasn't enough money."

He later confirmed that it was a true story and complimented Tucker for his portrayal.

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Martin Lawrence says he turned down offer to costar with Jackie Chan in Rush Hour

The Rush Hour franchise began with the first movie's release in 1998. The film followed Jackie Chan, now 70, and Chris Tucker, 52, who played two police officers. They teamed up to rescue a Chinese diplomat's kidnapped daughter in Los Angeles. Chan portrayed the skilled character Lee, while Tucker was the funny and clumsy Carter.

The movie was released in theaters three years after Martin Lawrence and Will Smith originally teamed up for the first Bad Boys movie. On Tuesday, Lawrence confessed on The Tonight Show that he could have been part of the successful action film. He said,

"Jackie Chan asked me to star in Rush Hour with him, but I turned it down."

Smith then quipped in response to the statement saying, "Jackie Chan likes Black people." After Martin Lawrence confirmed the news was true, Jimmy Fallon asked whether he regretted saying no to the movie after it became a box-office hit. Martin replied,

"I was happy for Chris, that's what it was supposed to be. Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, and they brought a beautiful franchise with Rush Hour."

The first Rush Hour movie became the ninth highest-grossing film of 1998 at the domestic box office. It was followed by Rush Hour 2 which came out in 2001 and Rush Hour 3 in 2007. The Rush Hour 4 movie is under production but there has been no news of an official release date yet.

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith are also on their way to releasing the fourth entry in the Bad Boys franchise. In Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the duo returns to Miami as detectives Marcus Bennett and Mike Lowrey.

The movie is a sequel to 2020's Bad Boys for Life, following the first Bad Boys in 1995 and Bad Boys II which came out in 2003. The new addition is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

Other artists in the cast include Alexander Ludwig, Vanessa Hudgens, Eric Dane, Tasha Smith, Melanie Liburd, Tiffany Haddish, and more.

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Bad Boys: Ride or Die is scheduled to release in theaters on June 7, 2024.