Apparently the mildly-anticipated action sequel Beverly Hills Cop 4 is not as far along as many would like, at least according to Axel Foley himself, Eddie Murphy, who talked to Rolling Stone about the potential project while promoting his new reggae single “Oh Jah Jah.”
“Nah, they still trying to get that script right,” Murphy said of the fourquel. “I’m not doing a ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ unless they have a really incredible script. I’ve read a couple things that look like they can make some paper. But I’m not doing a sh*tty movie just to make some paper. The sh*t got to be right.”
Right or not, Paramount’s plans seem a lot firmer than Murphy’s, as MLive reports Michigan Film Office spokeswoman Michelle Grinnell’s insistence that, to paraphrase Glenn Frey, the heat is STILL on.
“Paramount’s plans for this project in Michigan have not changed,” Grinnell wrote, reiterating her previous statement a month ago that Beverly Hills Cop 4 was, “still looking like this spring for principal (filming/production).”
Production was expected to take place primarily in Detroit last fall for a March 25, 2016 release, until unspecified delays occurred, possibly due to the script work Murphy refers to. Brett Ratner is still attached as director, with Jerry Bruckheimer returning as producer after sitting out the third film. Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) wrote the current draft of the screenplay.
Having a good script is a valid point, especially after the disastrous reception of 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop III, which Murphy admitted on a 2006 episode of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” was “atrocious” and responsible for the two-decade banishment of the character. In May of 2013, CBS passed on a pilot for a “Beverly Hills Cop” TV show featuring Murphy as now-Chief of Police Axel Foley and starring Brandon T. Jackson as his son, but it spurred interest in a fourth film.
If Paramount is moving forward without Murphy, would you still want to see a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie? Chime in in the comments section below!
