For years and years, almost as long as The Playlist has been a thing, the rumors and chatter about “Beverly Hills Cop 4” have floated as a possibility. But the stars never aligned, Eddie Murphy continued to hold out for the right concept, and things seemed like they might be possible when he worked with Brett Ratner on “Tower Heist.” The duo got along famously, and talked about working together again on ‘Cop 4,’ but again, that didn’t happen. Now it looks like it’s finally happening, sans Ratner.
Deadline reports that rising filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have been tapped to direct “Beverly Hills Cop 4.” The duo picked up the Discovery Award at TIFF last year for “Black” (see the trailer below) and this is definitely a big step up for them. Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec (“Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows“) are working on the script, and Paramount are looking to get this one off the ground sooner rather than later, with production to start later this year or in early 2017.
So, it looks like Axel Foley is finally going back on duty. Let’s hope his return is worth it (and btw, if there’s no Judge Reinhold, count me out). And don’t weep for the Murphy/Ratner collaboration that never was — the duo are cooking up “Soul Soul Soul” over at Netflix.