Following the confirmation that Netflix has successfully acquired the rights to the long-in development Beverly Hills Cop 4 with Eddie Murphy set to reprise his iconic role as Detective Axel Foley, directing duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life) has finally opened up about the upcoming fourth installment by revealing the current status of the project. Speaking with Digital Spy, the rising filmmakers have confirmed that a screenwriter has already been hired to write the first draft.
“We’re still involved in that project, and there’s a screenwriter now on it that’s going to try to write a first draft, or a first treatment at least with the story,” Arbi said. “So we’re going to see what the first version will be, but we’re very excited and hope that we can work with another icon like Eddie Murphy. That’d be great.”
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Beverly Hills Cop was directed by Martin Brest from a script written by Daniel Petrie Jr. It followed the story of street-smart Detroit detective Axel Foley, who went to Beverly Hills, California to investigate the murder of his best friend Mikey, played by James Russo. The film also starred Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher and Ronny Cox. It also earned two Golden Globe nominations including Best Picture and Best Screenplay and was the highest-grossing film in 1984 with a gross of $234 million.
This marks the second collaboration between Murphy and the streaming service, who have recently put out the comedy biopic Dolemite Is My Name. The Netflix-Paramount deal also includes an option on a Beverly Hills Cop 5.
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Paramount and Murphy are currently working on the highly-anticipated comedy sequel Coming 2 America which is scheduled to be released on August 7, 2020 with Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones and Shari Headley returning as Semmi, King Jaffe Joffer, and Lisa McDowell.
