Brett Ratner Net Worth

Brett Ratner's Quotes

• There's no difference between a tacky Jew from Miami and a rap star. They both want the Cadillac and the Rolex with the diamonds.
• In Hollywood, you gotta keep the movement. You gotta have three or four projects and whichever one comes in first, or better, that's the one you're going to do.
• There are very few perfect films. I think Reservoir Dogs (1992) is close to being a perfect film.
• Why do I need final cut? Final cut is for artistes quote unquote -- directors whose movies don't make a lot of money. Maybe Scorsese should have final cut because a guy like Harvey Weinstein or a studio might change it to make it a little more accessible or a little more commercial and he has a vision of what he wants it to be. He wants it to be four hours long or whatever.
• [on recasting the role of Jack Crawford with Harvey Keitel in Red Dragon (2002)] When Jonathan Demme said make your own version, I couldn't see anyone but Anthony Hopkins and I couldn't see anyone but Anthony Heald as Dr. Chilton. I can't see another acting doing it. But what happened was I went down to the FBI, and discovered they're like tough New York Cops. They weren't like Scott Glenn.

Interesting Facts about Brett Ratner

1. Was engaged to Rebecca Gayheart in the late 1990s.
2. Got his start by directing rap and hip-hop videos for his friend Russell Simmons. When the original director of Money Talks (1997) had to be replaced, Russell Simmons recommended him.
3. Attended and graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in Miami Beach, Florida (1986).
4. Once vowed he would not direct movies until he had directed at least 100 music videos.
5. Without knowing him, Steven Spielberg and his company Amblin Entertainment sent him $5000 to finish funding for his final film project at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts after he sent out 20 letters to producers asking for help.
6. Was in pre-production for a remake of John Cassavetes' The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) after he finished Rush Hour (1998). This was to be written by Cassavetes' son, Nick Cassavetes and Warren Beatty was set to star. Ratner left the project when he was offered Family Man (2000).
7. His favorite film is Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932) and his favorite film director is Hal Ashby.
8. After meeting with real life FBI agents, he decided that this would not be authentic to have Scott Glenn reprise the role of Jack Crawford in Red Dragon (2002), his prequel to The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Instead, he cast Harvey Keitel, in a role originally created by Dennis Farina in Manhunter (1986). Keitel and Farina had also both played Ray Barbone in the crime drama Get Shorty (1995). Ratner was considered for directing the sequel entitled Be Cool (2005), in which Keitel also appears.
9. Ranked #81 on Premiere magazine's 2003 annual Power 100 List. He did not rank on the 2004 list.
10. At Miami Beach Senior High School, he was a drama student of well-known instructor Jay W. Jensen.
11. Replaced director Matthew Vaughn just two months before filming began on X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
12. Was for some time attached to direct Superman Returns (2006). He left the project because of repeated delays and difficulty in casting a lead actor. The project then went to Bryan Singer, while Ratner went on to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), the two previous movies in the saga having been directed by Singer.
13. In Red Dragon (2002), digital technology was used to smooth over some of Anthony Hopkins's facial features so that he would look younger than he was in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Similar technology was used in the first scene of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), so that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen could play their characters twenty years younger.
14. Considered directing Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).
15. His mother, Marsha Presman, was just age 16 when she gave birth to her son.
16. Lives in Los Angeles, California and Miami Beach, Florida.
17. In the series "The Film That Changed My Life" (Observer newspaper UK/May 2010), Ratner cited Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980) as the singular movie that most inspired him to become a filmmaker. Claims to have seen the movie about 100 times, first when he was only 10-years-old with his mother's permission.
18. His five favorite films are The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002), De huurder (1976), The Killing (1956), Being There (1979) and Raging Bull (1980). The last of these was the film that made him want to go to film school; Robert Evans, the subject of The Kid Stays in The Picture, was one of his mentors.
19. No longer involved in the production of a new Superman movie. Stated that the repeated delays and difficulty in casting a lead actor made it impossible for him to remain involved.
20. At the Beverly Hills Film Festival, he presented the first annual Living Legends Award to legendary photographer Phil Stern (2008).