He was the coolest out of controlFastTalkingGunshootingCop of the 80's. Yes, we're talking about Eddie Murphy's unforgettable Detroit cop Axel Foley, the cop that just won't stop and who just can't leave Beverly Hills. And in "Beverly Hills Cop", which was a box office blockbuster, we were introduced to Axel's wonderfully funny character who cleaned up Beverly Hills. A couple of years later, he returned with "Beverly Hills Cop 2", where Axel took on Bridgette Nielson, a gun-shooting bitch and her gun-stealing gang. While not as much as a hit as number one, it was all played for the action, not the laughs. Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer shook their heads and let go of Axel Foley and went on to "Days Of Thunder". In 1993-1994, in a chance to kick the franchise up again, it was decided that Eddie Murphy should return with a 90's twist in "Beverly Hills Cop III", where he was back in Beverly Hills, and went through all the turnstiles in WonderWorld, an amusment park to catch the bad guy. Advertised with the taglines "IN FOR THE RIDE OF HIS LIFE" and "IT'S ON!", it looked like a comeback for Eddie Murphy. Nope. It did poorly at the box office and it was bashed by critics. Dismal as it was, "BEVERLY HILLS COP 3" was the end of Axel Foley's assignments in Beverly Hills. Until now.
Over the last couple of months, Bruckheimer and Murphy were in talks to resurrect the franchise and a new plot was made for the fourth installment: A corrupt government is running down neighborhoods in Beverly Hills to make way for new, high tech monorails/monotrains for the civillians to ride in...but what they're really doing is shipping international terrorists and drugs. And Axel Foley's friend has just been murdered because he knew too much. That only leads our Beverly Hills Cop to kick open the unwelcoming doors to Beverly Hills and stop the bad guys, whether it's on top of a faster than light monotrain or just kicking ass, Axel Foley's the man to get the job done.
According to Dark Horizons (the site that announced the project), Bruckheimer plans to inject new life into the franchise and is having Jonathan Hensleigh (writer of The Rock, Armageddon, The Saint; Executive Producer on Con Air) write Beverly Hills Cop 4. But nobody is sure if Beverly Hills Cop regulars Billy Rosewood or Serge will return. But with Jerry Bruckheimer's frentic action touch and Hensleigh's clever writing, Beverly Hills Cop 4 will definetly be more than a sequel.
