Back in October, Eddie Murphy promised a Beverly Hills Cop 4 and more stand ups were on their way immediately after Coming To America 2. Now it appears that there’s more than just an idea in the air.
Beverly Hills Cop Axel Foley will come back to active duty…for Netflix. Paramount has made a one-time license deal — with an option for a sequel — that will enable Netflix to make the fourth installment of the film with Eddie Murphyand producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The studio had been developing a reboot for awhile. It is another example of studios striking inventive deals with Netflix at a time when long gestating sequels like The Shining followup Doctor Sleep, The Terminator: Dark Fate and Zombieland: Double Tap have been hard pressed to measure up to the grosses of their predecessors, with at least two of them in line to lose money because of the high cost of P&A.
This deal gives Netflix a sexy title with a big star and it gives Paramount an opportunity to reap revenue on a library title. Paramount launched the franchise in 1984 with the Martin Brest original, followed by a Tony Scott-directed second installment in 1987 and a third by John Landis in 1994.
This deal strengthens Netflix’s relationship with Murphy.
Netflix’s hot new movie title has Murphy starring in the critically lauded Dolemite Is My Name, playing self made blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore. Murphy has also been in discussions to return to the stand up stage for Netflix for the first time since the 1980s, when he catapulted from Saturday Night Live to become one of the world’s biggest movie and stand up stage stars.
Paramount has attempted numerous iterations of Beverly Hills Cop over the past few years, including an attempted TV series that Murphy was going to star in, but which never quite made it to the start line.
We think this is the way to go about reviving this franchise. How about you? Are you excited to see Axel Foley return Or should they leave it alone? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Comments