Italian distributor Lucky Red has acquired rights to New Line's Rush Hour 3, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker and directed by Brett Ratner.

The film has grossed over $110m in the first three weeks of its Stateside run while European grosses figure at $16.5m for the UK after three weekends, and $7.1m in Germany in its first two weeks.

Lucky Red's chief of acquisitions Stefano Massenzi told ScreenDaily.com they are 'racing' to get the title into Italian theaters for an Oct 5 release date. The film will be a wide release on 250 copies, which should be the biggest release of that weekend in Italy, Massenzi predicted.

An acquisition of this kind is further proof of the traditionally indie distribution's intent to make strides with more commercial fare.

As for Rush Hour 3's likely performance in Italy, Massenzi has healthy expectations. 'Being set in Paris it has a European edge for us,' he says.

The deal comes on the heels of Lucky Red's first high-profile commercial titles purchased from The Weinstein Company in early August. Those titles were 1408 by Mikael Hafstrom and Halloween by Rob Zombie.

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