Eddie Murphy say that Beverly Hills Cop 4 will be his next film. Released in 1984, the original Beverly Hills Cop introduced Murphy as Axel Foley, a fast-talking and reckless Detroit police officer who heads west to Beverly Hills to investigate his childhood friend’s murder. It went on to become the highest-grossing movie that year and completed Murphy evolution from a successful run as a standup comedian and SNL cast member to a bonafide Hollywood superstar. A pair of sequels were later released in 1987 and 1994, and there’s been been talk of a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie on and off over the twenty-five years since then.
Back in 2011, Beverly Hills Cop 4 was briefly abandoned in favor of a TV spinoff starring Brandon T. Jackson as Foley’s son, with Murphy set to pass the torch to Jackson’s character in the pilot. However, after the show failed to secure a green-light, another movie was put back into development, and Brett Ratner was later attached to direct for a 2016 release date. Obviously, that version of the film never came to pass, but it sounds like Murphy hasn’t given up on reprising Axel Foley just yet.
Speaking to Collider, Murphy recently confirmed that he’s planning to make Beverly Hills Cop 4 after he finishes working on the now-filming Coming to America 2. He added that he sees these belated sequels, in combination with his upcoming return to hosting SNL, as a “bookend” to his movie career so far, explaining “I’m not going to be making movies two three a year like [back] in the early days because I like to just be home with the kids”.
This comes as somewhat unexpected news in light of Murphy’s recent career moves. Between his role in this month’s acclaimed Netflix biopic, Dolemite Is My Name, his SNL gig, and his plans to resume performing standup comedy in 2020, Murphy has shown signs of trying to stage a comeback after only starring in the little-seen comedy A Thousand Words and drama Mr. Church in the last eight years. However, based on his new comments, it sounds like the comedy legend has other plans and isn’t particularly interested in recapturing his previous glory. Presumably, then, Beverly Hills Cop 4 will serve as the final chapter in Axel Foley’s adventures, as opposed to a launchpad for additional sequels or possibly even a passing of the torch storyline (a la the abandoned TV spinoff).
Beyond Murphy’s comments, there haven’t been any major updates on Beverly Hills Cop 4 since 2017. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were reportedly still attached to direct at the time, with actors like Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy being eyed to play a younger Detroit cop who butts heads with Foley (who’s been living in Beverly Hills for several years by the time the film picks up). Arbi and Fallah have since called the shots on another belated action-comedy sequel in the form of Bad Boys for Life (which opens next January), so it’s not clear if they’re still involved with Beverly Hills Cop 4 at this stage. All the same, Murphy seems ready to take another shot at finally making the movie a reality.
Source: Collider
