First Look At Eddie Murphy In Return As Most-Beloved Character

By Andrew Sanford | Film | November 20, 2023 |

By Andrew Sanford | Film | November 20, 2023 |

I love Beverly Hills Cop 3, I think. It played constantly during a brief free trial of HBO when I was nine years old. I thought it was hilarious. There was a giant gun that played music, an amusement park, and the attempted murder of a Walt Disney stand-in. No, I had not seen the first two films before seeing the third, but my young mind didn’t care. I found myself in a similar situation regarding another favorite at the time, Robocop 3 (I was a kid).

I viewed the first two Beverly Hills Cop films eventually. Still, because my entry point was a subpar sequel I loved regardless, I’ve found myself more than open to a fourth film in the franchise. It has been in development hell for decades, but we’re finally getting closer. So close that we now have our first look at Eddie Murphy’s return to Axel Foley.

Empire has an exclusive look at Murphy’s return to Beverly Hills that you can see here. They also have info on other returning favorites, like Judge Reinhold, Paul Reiser, and Bronson freakin Pinchot, and new cast members like Taylour Paige and Joseph Gordon-Levitt! JGL will be playing Eddie’s new partner, and according to returning Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, “He gets stuck with Axel and they are hysterical together.”

I’m excited, albeit not one hundred percent sold yet. There’s a reason this film took so long to get made. Netflix also has a habit of throwing money at projects that merely seem to exist. Murphy is no stranger to that. Hopefully, the new Axel Foley adventure is more Dolemite Is My Name and less You People. Even typing that sentence takes a little bit of the wind out of my sails.