It took one legendary producer to convince Eddie Murphy back into the famed Detroit Lions jacket for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley: Jerry Bruckheimer.
Speaking to Collider, the iconic funnyman who became an international superstar thanks to 1984's Beverly Hills Cop and its two sequels explained how the Top Gun: Maverick producer was key to returning to his most notable role after 29 years away from the franchise. "When he got involved, and he started developing the script, and he knew what Beverly Hills Cop was supposed to be. When he got back involved, that's when it all started to come together," Murphy said.
A fourth installment to the Beverly Hills Cop franchise took more than a decade to finally go into production due to Murphy's dissatisfaction with potential story ideas. "Because we tried for years and years, maybe 10, 12 years, and I must have read five or six different scripts, and it was never right," Murphy said. "The studio was like, 'Let's go. Here it is.' It was like, 'It's just not it.' Jerry Bruckheimer got back in there, and he knows his shit, and he put it together. He did [Top Gun: Maverick] just last year, and Bad Boys is Jerry Bruckheimer. So we have that same brain behind Beverly Hills Cop, and he put all the pieces in place that were required for us to make a great movie. And I'm excited for people to see it."
Directed by Martin Brest, Beverly Hills Cop was the highest-grossing picture of 1984, making $316 million worldwide. Its 1987 sequel, Beverly Hills Cop II, directed by Tony Scott, grossed a little more than half of the original and was met with mixed reviews. 1994's Beverly Hills Cop III, directed by John Landis, earned the lowest box office and worst reviews in the franchise.
Axel Foley Is Back
Murphy announced plans for the Beverly Hills Cop television series in 2012. The series' pilot was produced by CBS in early 2013, with the intent to be placed on the fall schedule. But in May 2013, CBS passed on the series for several reasons: personality clashes with the network, the series' edgy tone and Murphy's guest appearance overshadowing new star Brandon T. Jackson. Paramount opted to restart the fourth Axel Foley adventure on the big screen with directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah attached. After more delays followed, the studio licensed the sequel to Netflix, now under the title Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley.
Directed by Mark Malloy and starring Murphy alongside Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Joseph Gordon-Levett, Paul Reiser, Taylor Paige, Bronson Pinchot and Kevin Bacon, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley does not have a release date.
Source: Collider