Upcoming film Beverly Hills Cop IV’s directors have mentioned about popular actors such as Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy being considered to feature against Axel Foley played by Eddie Murphy. The original film helped Murphy become a superstar, back in 1984 when he portrayed a rude, street-smart Detroit cop who took on his colleagues in Beverly Hills during his pursuit of the killer of his friend.
Murphy once again played the same character in Beverly Hills Cop II, but, the franchise seemed to have lost all its charm when the third film in the series was heavily criticized, and even Murphy, later on, called it “garbage.” In 2013, efforts were made to convert the franchise into a TV series, and a pilot was also shot. Later it was abandoned despite receiving a good response as Murphy was hesitant in accepting a recurring role. Now the fourth film of the franchise is in the planning stage with reports emerging last year about Murphy coming back for a plot based in Detroit.
The film is being directed by Adil El Arbi and BilallFallah, and they both spoke about their plans when they appeared on a talk show titled The World Turns in Holland. They said that they are gunning for a big ticket star like Tom Hardy or Tatum to take on Murphy. The film will see Foley as a senior Beverly Hills cop who will clash with a younger, meaner cop from Detroit and that pretty much puts him on the other side of the table compared to the earlier films.
The idea is cool, and the directors have stated about the movie having a $50 million budget, and it is primarily based in Detroit. Generally, it doesn’t fare well for the film when it takes ages for pieces to fall together. However, the main reason for the delay has been Murphy himself. He had said that he would work on the sequel only if he loved the script and he rubbished several drafts which failed to appeal to him. Ultimately the director Brett Ratner who was earlier associated with the film walked out due to no progress being made on the project.
Murphy has also said that he doesn’t wish to make movies only for the money and expressed his desire to make a sequel that is much better than Beverly Hills Cop III. Apparently, the new directors also have the same ideas, and the introduction of a famous actor against Murphy will add more value and life to the series. Among the two guys mentioned by the directors, Hardy is probably the more exciting option as Tatum has already played a buddy cop character in the Jump Street as well as in White House Down, whereas Hardy will be a fresher and darker angle to the franchise.
As of now, there is no release date fixed for Beverly Hills Cop IV.
Source: The World Turns (via JoBlo)
