The Plot
The story opens up with Ratner and Russell Simmons at a Def Comedy Jam. Ratner had been cutting his teeth directing music videos. Chris Tucker, a then-unknown comic, performs, and catches Ratner’s eye. Ratner casts him in a Heavy D video for $500 pay plus agreeing to let him keep his wardrobe. The video came out as a huge hit, and Tucker went on to make Friday. He was about to do Money Talks and the director went to the head of the studio and tried to get Tucker fired. Ratner explains, “The head of the studio said, ‘You’re fired, we are not losing Chris Tucker!’ because the director said, ‘I can’t control him,’ and it’s the director’s job to control the talent.” Tucker remembered Ratner from the video and recommended Ratner, who got the directing job. The movie cost $20 million and went on to make $40 million. Ratner was just 26 years old.
The rest is cinematic history. He cast Tucker alongside martial arts maven Jackie Chan in Rush Hour, crediting being exposed to the unique mix of cultures at Miami Beach High for the unlikely combination. “The movie just took off,” Ratner says. It cost $33 million to make and went to gross over $200 million worldwide. Ratner reaped in the success, becoming a ‘first dollar gross director’ (industry term meaning he gets 10 cents for every dollar that goes into the movie theater before the studio even recoups their losses from a film). Rush Hour 2 followed in its footsteps in 2001, grossing $350 million worldwide. Rush Hour 3 is premiering worldwide on August 10 of this year.
Ratner has gone on to direct eight movies in different genres, including last year’s X-Men: The Last Stand and 2002’s Red Dragon. It is a level of success that still makes him giddy. “It’s beyond my wildest dreams… To be a billion dollar director-for me, I would have been happy making little movies with the same friends.” Not that one would believe him for a second. He has been driven to success since his days as a boy on Miami Beach. He has chased his dreams, and succeeded beyond expectations. “I remember being a kid and watching Batman and wanting to make a movie like that and then-Oh my God-I make X-Men, a 200 million dollar production, which is bigger than Batman ever was in scope and size. Then at the age of twenty, I am watching Silence of the Lambs and then I’m directing Red Dragon with Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. That’s when I had to pinch myself, because I always knew I was going to be a director, but I didn’t ever realize the scope of my films’ abilities.
“And… Action!
Brett is constantly busy, whether with his films, television shows, music videos, or various causes. Growing up on Miami Beach next to Al Malnik, Ratner was influenced by Malnik’s charitable giving. Today, he follows in Malnik’s footsteps, choosing to give time in addition to money. “My awareness of philanthropy has been heavily influenced by Al,” he says. “So I kind of want to set an example and inspire young people to give back…. I think it’s important for people with a lot of success.” He is actively involved with the Museum of Tolerance and Chrysalis.
But his main love is being behind a camera, movie or otherwise. He is now an acclaimed photographer responsible for the striking Jimmy Choo ads with Nicole Ritchie, and the stunning shots of Heidi Klum for Jordache. “I do it because I’m a storyteller… I grew up as a kid making films, trying to tell stories. And I like the challenge of telling a story with one picture.”
It is a talent that he has embraced. His knowledge and enthusiasm about the business has allowed him to grow from your run-of-the-mill director into an unstoppable business mogul with near countless projects on the horizon. “I have Rat Entertainment, which is where I make the movies I direct and produce. It is part of New Line Cinema, which is a Time Warner company. Rat Television, which produces shows for Fox Broadcasting, is my TV arm.” Under Rat Television, he has produced Prison Break, with Women’s Murder Club coming out this season. He is a judge on Spielberg’s reality show On the Lot, and was recently featured as himself on the HBO hit series Entourage. He has a hand in virtually every aspect of entertainment, even going so far as to pick all the music used on his soundtracks. He has invested an undisclosed amount in Fountainebleau Las Vegas with childhood friend Jeff Soffer. His next step is announcing that he has a way to finance not only his films, but also those of young up-and coming directors. He is so much more than just a director; he is a full-fledge brand that is making its mark on American culture.
The Hollywood rumor mill has been in full swing with talk of Ratner directing a biography of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. Flashback to his childhood in Florida, watching his mentors, Don Soffer and James Caan, out on Soffer’s boat: “I remember times Jeff [Soffer] and I would go spy on them,” he says, “and they would be on the Monkey Business with all the Playmates. And we’d say, ‘Oh my God! One day…’” It seems that day is today. And it shouldn’t be long before the rest of Ratner’s dreams come true as well.
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New York
Dec/Jan 2012
