Trivia: Very early on in pre-production, Chris Farley was considered for the role that would ultimately become Detective Lee. The character would have instead been a hapless white police officer whose teamed up with a smart-talking African American officer. After Farley left, his character was re-written to be a "fish out of water" Chinese police officer whose forced to come to the US.
Trivia: Chris Tucker ad-libbed much of his dialogue for the movie.
Trivia: Towards the end, where Soo Yun is reunited with her father outside of the museum, there is a news van in the background. The call letters on the van start with W, which is typically reserved for television and radio stations in the eastern U.S. with few exceptions. In the western U.S. of course, the calls typically start with a K. There is no "W" station currently broadcasting in Los Angeles.
Trivia: "Rush Hour" is credited for being the inspiration behind the popular (and polarizing) website "Rotten Tomatoes" in 1998. Creator Senh Duong was a massive Jackie Chan fan and began to collect the reviews critics published about his films. And he wanted to create an online space where the reviews could be compiled, especially as Jackie Chan's first major Hollywood film - "Rush Hour" - was coming out. Eventually, Duong and his associates began to compile reviews for other films not starring Chan, and the idea snowballed from there.
Trivia: Several of Agent Lee's humorous gags and action beats were recycled from previous Jackie Chan films. As at the time, not too many of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong films had been released in the US, Chan and the director were able to pick and chose some of their favorite moments from his prior movies to incorporate into "Rush Hour."
Trivia: Early in pre-production, famed rapper Tupac Shakur was in consideration for the co-lead Agent Carter.