Eddie Murphy Speaks out on ‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ Rumors

Eddie Murphy has been making a bit of a comeback in recent years, but many fans are still holding out for his long-rumored Beverly Hills Cop 4. The supposed sequel has been a vague rumor for years now, and Murphy gave an update about it this week in a new interview on Desus & Mero. He confirmed that the project is still not dead but said that it is not officially in the works.

“They’ve been trying to make another Beverly Hills Cop for 15 years now,” Murphy said. “Right now, Netflix has it, and they’re trying to develop a script. That’s what we’re supposed to be doing next. But I’m not doing nothing until the script is right.” Murphy’s use of a general “they” did not give fans any big hints to hold onto, but there are a few details about who is working on the project from scattered reports in recent years.

Beverly Hills Cop is one of Murphy’s most beloved trilogies, with three films released between 1984 and 1994. According to a report by Cinema Blend, there were actually talks of making the fourth installment in the ’90s, right after Beverly Hills Cop III came out, but those plans fizzled out due to the third’s poor reviews film.

From there, the intellectual property rights bounced around Hollywood, and a handful of development deals were made and broken. The most recent update came in 2016 when directing team Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were chosen to direct the project for Netflix. In the summer of 2020, Arbi and Bilall told Digital Spy that the project is still underway and that a screenwriter is working on the script, but they did not name the writer attached to the project.

“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,” they 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.”

For years, the hope of a Beverly Hills Cop 4 seemed distant since Murphy took a prolonged break from the entertainment industry in general. The actor continued to do voice-over work and scattered roles here and there but avoided his celebrity status to spend time with his children.

However, Murphy has been working more steadily since at least 2019, when he starred in the Netflix original film Dolemite Is My Name. From there, he made his highly-anticipated return to Saturday Night Live and then on to Coming 2 America, which was released this month. Whether Murphy will reprise the role of Axel Foley next is still up in the air, but either way, it seems like the comedian is back in business.