‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ Officially Happening, Eddie Murphy Says

Eddie Murphy confirmed rumors that Beverly Hills Cop 4 is on the way. The comedian was on a press tour promoting Dolemite Is My Name, and took some time to mention his other upcoming projects as well. In one interview with Collider, Murphy laid out his plans for the next several years. Murphy is coming to Netflix at the end of the month in the new movie. Dolemite is My Name. The comedian has been laying low for years now, but he has a lot of projects coming in the next couple of years. On Tuesday, he confirmed that a new installment of Beverly Hills Cop is one of them.

“Yeah, that’s what we’re doing after Coming to America,” he said casually. “We’re doing Beverly Hills Cop.”

For fans of the franchise, this is huge news. Beverly Hills Cop was one of Murphy’s first blockbuster hits, premiering in 1984. The movie follows a street-smart cop named Axel Foley from Detroit, who goes out of his jurisdiction to investigate crimes in ritzy Beverly Hills, California. Over the course of three movies and one unaired TV pilot, he dolls out his no-nonsense street justice in spite of the uncooperative system.

The last installment, Beverly Hills Cop III, came out in 1994. After that, the series went quiet for almost two decades, until CBS ordered a pilot starring Brandon T. Jackson as Axel Foley’s son, Aaron. The episode was filmed in 2013, but it was not picked up. After that, Paramount promised another film was on the way, but this is the first concrete word of it we have had since.

In his interview on Tuesday, Murphy did not seem to acknowledge the gravity of this Beverly Hills Cop news. The comedian skated right over the announcement, describing how it would feature in his career overall in the years to come.

“Then, the plan is to get back on stage and do stand-up, and then that’s what I’ll be doing mostly, is stand-up,and Beverly Hills Cop will be kind of like… These movies, and Saturday Night Live, I’m looking at it as, a book-end,” he said.

“And if I decide that I just want to stay on the couch forever, I’ve ended it on a funny note,” he went on. “And I’ll do stand-up if I’m feeling creative… And if some incredible filmmaker comes along with some great movie or with some great opportunity… But I’m not going to be making movies, like, two or three a year, like I did back in the early days. Because I like to just be at home with the kids.”

Of course, there is no information on production or release dates available for Beverly Hills Cop 4 just yet. In the meantime, Murphy stars in Dolemite Is My Name, which hits Netflix on Friday, Oct. 25.