The fourth action/comedy has come back out of the woodwork wth some new casting announcements - and a new name.
Netflix's long-awaited 'Beverly Hills Cop' sequel is back on track with Eddie Murphy teaming up with some familiar faces.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has joined the cast of the action film, and so too has Taylour Paige. Gordon-Levitt is well-known for his action film appearances in the past, such as 'Inception' and 'Looper'; while lesser-known Paige starred in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' and 'Zola', and also has a role in the upcoming body-swap comedy with Diane Keaton, 'Mack & Rita'.
This sequel, which according to Murphy has been over 10 years in the making, has also been given an official title: 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley'. What will a middle-aged Detective Axel Foley be up to all of these years later we wonder? The last time we caught up with the goofball was in 1994 for the critically-panned third entry in the police cop franchise.
According to Deadline, production on the sequel is already underway. Helming the film will be Mark Molloy, who up until now has only shot short films. Molloy replaced Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah who famously jumped ship from the project to film DC's 'Batgirl' - which might not have worked out in their favour, exactly. The Batman spin-off was canned by HBO during the summer for not hitting the mark.
Original 'Beverly Hills Cop' producer Jerry Bruckheimer is part of the team and he's also brought frequent producer Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films on board with him. Will Beall of 'Aquaman' and 'Gangster Squad' fame has penned the script.
Back in March of 2021, Murphy gave an update on the status of the film to Digital Spy, saying "right now, they are writing a script".
"We don't have a start date," he continued, "but we have directors and we have producers – and we have writers working on it. Axel Foley is ready to go. All we need is a script.
"We've been trying to do 'Beverly Hills Cop 4' for over 10 years and this is the closest we've got to it. We have directors who are smart and ready to go – and we have great ideas.
"I feel like we're on the right track now. We're nearly there."
This Netflix 'Beverly Hills Cop' film isn't the first time Eddie Murphy has boarded a sequel film of one of his classic '80s hits. 'Coming 2 America' landed on Prime Video last year to tepid response from fans of the original - so here's hoping this new Axel Foley adventure fares better with audiences.