Every few years or so Eddie Murphy will take on a role that reminds us of the actor he can be and the star he will always be. He hasn’t had one of those since Dreamgirls, and is getting the same kind of buzz for his performance as Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite Is My Name. Following that, Murphy is staying busy with the long-awaited sequel Coming to America 2, and then he says it’ll be time to bring Axel Foley back to the big screen.
Speaking with Collider, Murphy confirms that Beverly Hills Cop 4 will begin shooting once he’s wrapped on Coming to America 2.
“Yeah that’s what we’re doing after Coming to America 2. We’re doing Beverly Hills Cop and then the plan is to get back on stage and do standup. That’s what I’ll be doing mostly is standup. These movies and Saturday Night Live it’s kind of like…I’m looking at it as a bookend. If I decided I wanted to stay on the couch forever, I ended it on a funny note.”
Honestly, the most exciting part of that statement is Murphy doing standup again. Might we see him to a Raw special for Netflix or something?
Anyway, Beverly Hills Cop 4 has been in the works for years, and has collapsed in every attempt to get it off the ground. It didn’t help that 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop 3 was considered a failure by Murphy and most of the people involved with it. Brett Ratner was attached to direct it in 2008, but that fell through and a TV series following Axel Foley’s son was developed for CBS. That one didn’t even make it to air.
This time, all engines are go for Murphy’s return as Detroit cop Axel Foley, who is a fish out of water when he begins investigating a friend’s murder in Beverly Hills. The film was a huge hit, one of the earliest in Murphy’s career, and helped turn him into a superstar. Now it could be part of his big comeback, and I’m all for it. While seeing this franchise return doesn’t do much for me, anything that gets Murphy out there working again is worth it.
