As far as blockbusters are concerned, Hollywood loves to play it safe. When it comes time to recruit filmmakers for sequels or big tentpoles, it’s less about finding the RIGHT director than it is a director who’s proven themselves at the studio level. In a rare case of a studio genuinely rolling the dice on little-known talent, Deadline is reporting that Paramount Pictures has handed the reins of Beverly Hills Cop 4 over to Belgian helmers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who previously directed the thrillers Image and Black, the latter of which won the Discovery Award at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival.
Apparently the studio loved Black and were excited to hear that the first Beverly Hills Cop was a seminal film for the duo, and decided to inject some youthful exuberance into the moribund project, which has been flailing in development hell for years under previously-attached director Brett Ratner. You can check out the Black trailer below and see that the filmmakers have the right sensibility to capture the rough-and-tumble nature of inner-city violence as Axel Foley goes back to Detroit.
As for star Eddie Murphy, the last time he spoke about Beverly Hills Cop 4 was is January when it sounded like he was unhappy with the creative team behind the sequel.
“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.”
Production was expected to take place primarily in Detroit in fall 2015 for a March 25, 2016 release, until unspecified delays occurred, possibly due to the script work Murphy refers to. Jerry Bruckheimer is 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.
Are you more or less excited to see a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie now that Brett Ratner is no longer directing? Chime in in the comments section below!
