Just in case you were worried,Beverly Hills Cop 4is still development at Netflix. But Eddie Murphy is waiting until the script is just right before we see the return of Axel Foley. This month, Murphy reprised the role of Akeem Joffer in the comedy sequelComing 2 America. Released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, the sequel was touted by the company as the most-streamed movie in a single weekend since the start of the pandemic.
Coming to Americaisn’t the only classic movie from his career thatEddie Murphywill revisit. In 2019, Paramount Pictures announced that Netflix had picked up the rights for aBeverly Hills Copsequel. It was also reported thatBad Boys for Lifehelmers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are also on board to co-direct the movie with Murphy expected to reprise the role of Axel Foley. Speaking aboutBeverly Hills Cop 4onDesus & Mero, Murphy provided an update on the current status of the project.
“They’ve been trying tomake another Beverly Hills Cop for 15 yearsnow. Right now, Netflix has it, and they’re trying to develop a script. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing next. But, I’m not doing nothing until the script is right.”
Last May, Arbi similarly gave a promising update on the sequel in an interview withDigital Spy. At the time, the co-director explained how they were still ironing out the story with a new screenwriter, and also expressed how eager they are to work with Murphy.
“We’re still involved in that project, and there’s a screenwriter now on it that’s going to try to write a first draft, or a first treatment at least with the story,” Arbi said. “So we’re going to see what the first version will be, but we’re very excited and hope that we can work with another icon like Eddie Murphy. That’d be great.”
Murphy first appeared in the role ofAxel Foleywhen the originalBeverly Hills Copwas released in 1984. Directed by Martin Brest, the movie follows a Detroit cop who travels to Beverly Hills, California, in pursuit of his friend’s murderer. Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher, Ronny Cox, and Steevn Berkoff also starred. The movie was a tremendous success at the box office as the highest-grossing movie of 1984 in the United States.
In 1987 and 1994, Murphy returned as Axel in twoBeverly Hills Copsequels. CBS previously considered reviving the franchise with a TV series adaptation by ordering a pilot in 2012. While Murphy would have made a cameo in the pilot, the series would have followed a new rookie cop from Detroit solving cases every week in the hour-long crime drama series. For better or for worse, the network ultimately passed on the series, and Paramount Pictures has been slowly working on the fourth movie, which will officially debut atNetflixever since.
For those wanting to see anotherBeverly Hills Copmovie, let’s hope Arbi, Fallah, and Murphy can soon find the right version of the screenplay that they’re looking for. This news comes to us fromDesus & Mero.
