Hey Yo, Draven here.
CBS recently passed on a chance to take a BEVERLY HILLS COP pilot to series. The showrunner, Shawn Ryan, had this to say about reviving it at a different network:
Sad to report that efforts to land Beverly Hills Cop pilot at another network have failed. This iteration is dead for now. (Cont...)
— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyanTV) July 20, 2013
Good news for fans of franchise is that the pilot tested so well, it has caused Paramount to put another #BHC movie into development.
— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyanTV) July 20, 2013
We contemplated putting up a story just based on these tweets but ultimately decided against it, because we wanted some concrete evidence that Paramount was really moving forward with a new feature film. Now, Deadline is reporting that Paramount has hired Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL, the upcoming TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES reboot) to write a new script for BEVERLY HILLS COP IV.
Eddie Murphy will be reprising his iconic role as Axel Foley and it seems like this will be Axel centric, unlike the recent TV show pilot. Deadline added that the interest in the film was sparked by Eddie Murphy’s “scene-stealing” role in the pilot. This isn’t the first time BEVERLY HILLS COP IV has been in development, of course. Paramount has been trying to get a fourth installment off of the ground for over 20 years and was close with Brett Ratner in the director’s chair (don’t be surprised if he gets involved again).
Eddie Murphy is desperate for a hit though as his last film, A THOUSAND WORDS, was a notorious critical and financial failure. I hope he can revive some of that Axel Foley magic and give us a satisfying installment. The original film is one of my favorite action-comedy films and I watch it at least a couple times a year. It was also one of the biggest hits of the 80’s, grossing almost $235 million in 1984 (adjusted for inflation, that would be about $547 million today). The second installment was also a big hit. The third BHC was one of the biggest sequel disappointments of the 90’s and essentially killed the franchise.
So the question is, what is the upside to doing a BEVERLY HILLS COP IV? Eddie Murphy isn’t reliable as a box office draw anymore and there is no way they will be able to top the original’s success. The franchise couldn’t even get picked up as a TV show so why does Paramount think a new film can be successful? It’s hard to say, but I hope we get a chance to see that pilot or at least Murphy’s scene before this film comes out. I really want to know if Murphy still has it in him. I want nothing more than for Murphy to regain his edge and be funny again, but I will believe it when I see it, and I haven’t seen it in over 10 years so I’m not holding my breath.
What do you guys think the ceiling is for a potential BEVERLY HILLS COP IV? Are you encouraged by this news? Will Eddie Murphy ever be funny again?
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And now let's remember the brilliance of mid 80's Eddie Murphy:
