Beverly Hills Cop (franchise)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop - official franchise logo.png
Official franchise logo
Based onCharacters created by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie, Jr.
Starring
Release date
1984–present
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$110 million
Box office$712 million

Beverly Hills Cop is a movie franchise of American action comedy films and an unaired television pilot based on characters created by Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Danilo Bach. The films star Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop who travels to Beverly Hills, California to investigate a crime, even though it is out of his jurisdiction. There, he meets Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton), and Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox). Ashton and Cox do not appear in Beverly Hills Cop III. Murphy, Reinhold, and Gil Hill, who plays Axel's boss, Inspector Todd, are the only actors who appear in all three films. Harold Faltermeyer produced the now famous "Axel F" theme song heard throughout the series. The series as a whole have been distributed by Paramount Pictures. The films have grossed a total of $712 million at the worldwide box office.

Following a failed attempt at a television series based on the films, Paramount decided to produce another film with a currently unknown release date.[1][2]

Background[]

Axel Foley[]

Main article: Axel Foley

Films[]

Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s)
Beverly Hills Cop December 5, 1984 (1984-12-05) Martin Brest Daniel Petrie, Jr. Danilo Bach
Daniel Petrie, Jr. 		Don Simpson
Jerry Bruckheimer
Beverly Hills Cop II May 20, 1987 (1987-05-20) Tony Scott Larry Ferguson
Warren Skaaren 		Eddie Murphy
Robert D. Wachs
Beverly Hills Cop III May 25, 1994 (1994-05-25) John Landis Steven E. de Souza Mace Neufeld
Robert Rehme
Beverly Hills Cop IV TBA Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah[3] TBA TBA Jerry Bruckheimer
Eddie Murphy

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)[]

Main article: Beverly Hills Cop

Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is introduced as a Detroit cop who, after the murder of his friend, travels to California to investigate and track down the killer(s), whom he believes operates an art dealership as a cover in Beverly Hills. He teams up with two reluctant detectives from the Beverly Hills Police Department, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton), who were ordered to keep a watch on him, especially after seeing Foley's differing approach to police work, tactics considered unacceptable by the chief of police.

Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)[]

Main article: Beverly Hills Cop II

Axel returns to Beverly Hills, after finding out that Captain Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox) was shot. He once again teams up with Detective Billy Rosewood and Sgt. John Taggart, who, reluctantly and against incompetent and verbally abusive Police Chief Harold Lutz's (Allen Garfield) orders, help Foley to find out the person responsible for Bogomil's shooting. Axel, Billy, and John soon discover that the alphabet crimes, a series of felonies (robberies and Bogomil's shooting) that have been going on in the area, are masterminded by weapons kingpin Maxwell Dent (Jürgen Prochnow). With this information, Axel, Billy, and Taggart try to find Dent and his lover, Karla Fry (Brigitte Nielsen), who had shot Bogomil.

Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)[]

Main article: Beverly Hills Cop III

Axel returns to Beverly Hills once again. During an assignment, his boss, Inspector Todd (Gil Hill) is killed, and certain evidence points towards an amusement park called "Wonderworld". Upon arriving in Beverly Hills, Axel looks up the detective Billy Rosewood, who has attained the title of DDOJSIOC (Deputy Director of Joint Special Inter Operational Command). Taggart has retired and a new detective called Jon Flint (Hector Elizondo) serves as Rosewood's new partner.

Future[]

A fourth entry in the series was initially announced for release in the mid-'90s, under the production of Eddie Murphy's production company, though this never came to fruition.[4] The project was announced to once again be in development in 2006, with Jerry Bruckheimer once again serving as producer. This changed when Lorenzo di Bonaventura took over as producer.[5][6] After various versions of the script had undergone rewrites, Brett Ratner signed on to direct.[7][8][9][10][11][12] By July 2008, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas were hired as screenwriters to rewrite the existing script.[13][4] After the script was completed, it was decided that the story needed another rewrite.[4][14][15][16]

By October 2011, a fourth film was shelved in favor of a television series centered around Axel's son named Aaron. Murphy signed on as producer for the series, citing issues with the script as the reason that the film was not being made.[17] In December 2013 after filming a pilot episode, and when CBS passed on a series order, Paramount once again announced movement on Beverly Hills Cop IV. Ratner was once again hired to serve as director, with Eddie Murphy reprising the role of Axel Foley.[18] By May 2014, Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec were hired to write the screenplay.[2] The state of Michigan approved $13.5 million in film incentives, based on an estimated $56.6 million of filmmaker spending in the state. The film would be shot in and around Detroit and was estimated to provide jobs for 352 workers. The film was originally scheduled for a March 25, 2016 release,[19] but was later pulled from this release, due again to concerns regarding the script.[20][21]

In June 2016, it was announced that Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were hired to replace Ratner as co-directors for the film.[22] In September 2018, the filmmakers expressed their interest in having Tom Hardy or Channing Tatum cast in supporting roles.[23] In October 2019, Murphy announced that principal photography would commence, once Coming 2 America had finished production.[24] In November 2019, Paramount Pictures announced that they had licensed the property to be distributed by Netflix, with options for an additional sequel thereafter.[25] By May 2020, after delays in the filmmaking business caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Arbi and Fallah confirmed they are still attached as co-directors and that a new screenwriter was working on a new script for the film.[3][26]

Television[]

CBS ordered a pilot with Brandon T. Jackson starring as Axel Foley's son, Aaron.[27] The hour long crime drama was produced by the critically acclaimed writer Shawn Ryan who created The Shield and The Chicago Code.[28]

In January 2013, Ryan stated, "It's going to be a CBS procedural. We're going to solve a case every week, but we're going to do it with a lot of humor and a lot of fun. And I would say the stealth thing I would like to get in is, in a day and age when income inequality and class inequities dominate a lot of the country, this is going to be an opportunity to put a young working-class kid in Detroit in the middle of Beverly Hills, you can do a lot of stealth social commentary. My approach is to update it and make it feel modern and 2013. The pilot opens with a 4-5 minute sequence which I think is really harrowing and really dangerous, that would be something that you might have seen on Chicago Code or The Shield. I want it to feel grounded in that way. There'll be some opportunities for laughs after that. It's not a laughs come first show."[29]

In February 2013, Kevin Pollak was cast as Rodney Daloof, an irritating and incredibly risk-averse in-house attorney for the Beverly Hills Police Department.[30] David Denman was cast as Brad, an honest and likable but socially awkward detective, formerly a baseball player and a musician.[31] Director Barry Sonnenfeld agreed to both direct the Beverly Hills Cop pilot and serve as an executive producer.[32] In May 2013, CBS decided to pass on the Beverly Hills Cop TV series.[33] In August 2013, Jackson gave his reason about the pass:

I think we were very edgy for CBS. I think we were the edgiest as you could've went for CBS. It would have been like a Fresh Prince thing on CBS, like the edgiest you can go on network TV. But it doesn't agree to our franchise man."[34]

In February 2015, Eddie Murphy stated that his cameo appearance in the pilot ironically doomed the show's chances: "I was gonna be in the pilot, and they thought I should be recurring. I'm not gonna do Beverly Hills Cop on TV. I remember when they tested it — they had this little knob that you turn if you like it or you don't like it. So when Axel shows up in the pilot, some people turned the knob so much, they broke it. So the network decided 'if he isn't recurring, then this isn't gonna happen'. So it didn't happen."[35] In 2019, Murphy reiterates this statement:

The reason that didn't get picked up was because [the studio] thought that I was going to be in this show, because [the lead] was my son: "And you're going to pop in every now and then". I was like, "I ain't popping in shit". "Well, we ain't making this TV show". I was in the pilot, but they wanted me to be there every week. The pilot was really good. It tested where they have these knobs [that you] turn if you like it. And whenever I came on the screen, Axel Foley would come on the screen, they turned it so they literally broke the knobs on the thing. It was like, "Damn, they breaking knobs?"[36]

In a January 2016 interview, Shawn Ryan blamed personality clashes with the network: "The official answer is they decided they liked other pilots better. If you look at what pilots they picked up that year, I think that's kind of incredible. I would say there were a lot of 400 lb. gorillas involved in the show and sometimes the gorillas don't always get along." He also said that he was very proud of the pilot and loved working with Murphy.[37]

During late summer 2013, after CBS decided to pass on the TV series, Paramount decided to move forward with the fourth film.

Cast and crew[]

Principal cast[]

Character Films Television
Beverly Hills Cop Beverly Hills Cop II Beverly Hills Cop III Beverly Hills Cop IV Beverly Hills Cop
1984 1987 1994 TBA 2013
Axel Foley Eddie Murphy
William "Billy" Rosewood Judge Reinhold
Inspector Douglas Todd Gil Hill
John Taggart John Ashton
Andrew Bogomil Ronny Cox
Jeffrey Friedman Paul Reiser
Jeannette "Jenny" Summers Lisa Eilbacher
Chief Hubbard Stephen Elliott
Serge Bronson Pinchot Bronson Pinchot
Mayor Ted Egan Robert Ridgely
Jan Bogomil Alice Adair
Janice Perkins Theresa Randle
Jon Flint Héctor Elizondo
Uncle Dave Thornton Alan Young
Aaron Foley Brandon T. Jackson

Additional crew[]

Film Crew/Detail
Composer Cinematographer Editor(s) Production
companies 		Distributing
company 		Running time
Beverly Hills Cop Harold Faltermeyer Bruce Surtees Billy Weber & Arthur Coburn Paramount Pictures,
Eddie Murphy Productions,
Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films 		Paramount Pictures 1hr 45mins
Beverly Hills Cop II Jeffrey L. Kimball Billy Weber, Chris Lebenzon & Michael Tronick Paramount Pictures,
Eddie Murphy Productions Inc.,
Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films 		1hr 43mins
Beverly Hills Cop III Nile Rogers Mac Ahlberg Dale Beldin Paramount Pictures,
Eddie Murphy Productions 		1hr 44mins
Beverly Hills Cop IV Harold Faltermeyer TBA TBA Paramount Pictures,
Eddie Murphy Productions,
Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films 		Netflix TBA

Reception[]

Box office performance[]

Film Box office revenue Box office ranking Budget Reference
United States Other territories Worldwide All-time domestic All-time worldwide
Beverly Hills Cop $234,760,478 $81,600,000 $316,360,478 #61
#39(A) 		#193 $13,000,000 [38][39]
Beverly Hills Cop II $153,665,036 $122,800,000 $276,465,036 #178
#157(A) 		#216 $27,000,000 [40][41][42]
Beverly Hills Cop III $42,614,912 $76,594,077 $119,208,989 #2,047 #1,244 $70,000,000 [43][44]
Total $431,040,426 $280,994,077 $712,034,503 $110,000,000
List indicator(s)
  • (A) indicates the adjusted totals based on current ticket prices (by Box Office Mojo).

Critical and public response[]

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Beverly Hills Cop 83% (52 reviews)[45] 66 (10 reviews)[46] N/A
Beverly Hills Cop II 47% (32 reviews)[47] 48 (11 reviews)[48] A-[49]
Beverly Hills Cop III 9% (53 reviews)[50] 16 (15 reviews)[51] B[49]

Accolades[]

Beverly Hills Cop[52]
Beverly Hills Cop II[53]
Beverly Hills Cop III

Music[]

Soundtracks[]

Title U.S. release date Length Composer(s) Label
Beverly Hills Cop: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack TBA 39:14 TBA MCA Records
Beverly Hills Cop II: The Motion Picture Soundtrack Album TBA 45:14 TBA MCA Records
Beverly Hills Cop III: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack TBA 41:20 TBA MCA Records

Singles[]

In other media[]

Novelization[]

1987: Robert Tine: Beverly Hills Cop II: A Novel, Pocket; Mti edition, ISBN 978-0671645212

Video games[]

See also[]

  • The main theme music for the series titled "Axel F", which was composed by Harold Faltermeyer,[56] was covered and remixed by Crazy Frog.[57]
  • In the NTSF:SD:SUV:: episode, titled "Wasilla Hills Cop" is a reference to the movie franchise.[citation needed]

References[]

  1. ^ "Eddie Murphy Resurrects Classic Character". The Huffington Post. 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b The Deadline Team (May 2, 2014). "Paramount Sets 'Beverly Hills Cop' Starring Eddie Murphy For Spring 2016". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Sandwell, Ian (May 17, 2020). "'Beverly Hills Cop 4' directors offer update on Netflix sequel". Digital Spy. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Brett Ratner offers Beverly Hills Cop 4 Update". Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  5. ^ "Murphy Back for Beverly Hills Cop IV". Coming Soon. November 30, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b McNary, Dave; McClintock, Pamela (November 29, 2006). "Murphy back for more 'Beverly Hills Cop'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  7. ^ Davis, Erik (November 30, 2006). "Beverly Hills Cop IV!". Cinematical. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  8. ^ Morris, Clint (May 2, 2006). "Beverly Hills Cop 4 finally underway?". Moviehole. Archived from the original on September 19, 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  9. ^ Adler, Shawn (July 1, 2008). "Eddie Murphy Quashes Retirement Rumours". MTV Movies. MTV. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  10. ^ "'The Third 'Beverly Hills Cop' Was So Horrible'". MTV. July 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  11. ^ Morris, Clint (July 1, 2008). "Axel to keep it real!". Moviehole. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  12. ^ Adler, Shawn (June 3, 2008). "'Beverly Hills Cop 4' May Be Geared Towards Kids, Says Brett Ratner". MTV Movies. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  13. ^ Williams, Jamie (July 31, 2008). "Writers Attached To Beverly Hills Cop 4". Screenrant. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  14. ^ Morris, Clint (May 29, 2008). "Axel Foley smells a rat". Moviehole. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  15. ^ Morris, Clint (October 15, 2009). "Exclusive : Ashton in Cop 4!?". Moviehole. Archived from the original on October 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  16. ^ "Axel F Tune Will Be Back For Beverly Hills Cop IV". Internet Movie Database. September 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  17. ^ Grossberg, Josh (October 26, 2011). "Shrek's Donkey Done For? The Klumps Killed Off? Eddie Murphy Ready to Get Raw Again". E! Online. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  18. ^ Busch, Anita (December 6, 2013). "UPDATE: Jerry Bruckheimer And Paramount Ink First-Look Deal; Brett Ratner Attached To Direct 'Beverly Hills Cop'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
  19. ^ Masters, Kim; Goldberg, Lesley (2014-06-27). "Eddie Murphy Will Be Back in Detroit for 'Beverly Hills Cop 4'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  20. ^ "Paramount postpones 'Beverly Hills Cop 4'". Detroit Free-Press. Gannett Company. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  21. ^ Foutch, Haleigh (May 7, 2015). "BEVERLY HILLS COP 4 Pulled From Paramount's Release Schedule". Collider. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
  22. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 14, 2016). "'Beverly Hills Cop' Lands Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah To Direct Eddie Murphy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  23. ^ "'Beverly Hills Cop 4' Targets Tom Hardy and Channing Tatum". Movieweb. 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  24. ^ Weintraub, Steve (October 1, 2019). "Eddie Murphy on 'Beverly Hills Cop 4' and Returning to 'Saturday Night Live' in December". Collider. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  25. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (November 14, 2019). "Netflix Licenses From Paramount Rights To Make 'Beverly Hills Cop' Sequel With Eddie Murphy & Jerry Bruckheimer". deadline.com. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  26. ^ Burwick, Kevin (May 18, 2020). "'Beverly Hills Cop 4' Script Starts Fresh, Directors Can't Wait to Work with Eddie Murphy". MovieWeb. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  27. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (November 13, 2012). "Brandon T. Jackson to Play Eddie Murphy's Son in CBS' 'Beverly Hills Cop'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  28. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (September 4, 2012). "CBS Lands Shawn Ryan and Eddie Murphy's 'Beverly Hills Cop'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  29. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (2013-01-24). "'Last Resort' co-creator Shawn Ryan on the series finale, 'Beverly Hills Cop' and more". Hitfix. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  30. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (February 5, 2013). "Kevin Pollak to Co-Star in CBS' 'Beverly Hills Cop' Pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  31. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 6, 2013). "David Denman Cast In 'Beverly Hills Cop' Pilot, Donal Logue Joins 'Copper' Season 2". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  32. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2013-02-08). "Barry Sonnenfeld To Direct CBS' 'Beverly Hills Cop' Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  33. ^ Masters, Kim; Goldberg, Lesley (2013-05-10). "CBS Rejects 'Beverly Hills Cop' Pilot as Producers Explore Options". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  34. ^ Duncan, JJ (August 7, 2013). "Zimbio Exclusive Interview: Brandon T. Jackson Talks 'Percy Jackson,' Stand-Up, and Working with Eddie Murphy". Zimbio. Livingly Media. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  35. ^ Repanich, Jeremy (2015-02-10). "The Playboy Conversation: Eddie Murphy". Playboy. Archived from the original on 2017-12-16. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  36. ^ Obenson, Tambay (December 13, 2019). "Don't Tell Eddie Murphy 'Dolemite' Is His Comeback: "I'm Out There 24 Hours a Day, Seven Days a Week'". IndieWire. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  37. ^ Jester McGree (2016-01-21). "Shawn Ryan on Remaking the Best Show You've Never Heard Of Movie & TV News and Interviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  38. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop (1984)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  39. ^ "Word-Of-Mouth Gets Par's 'Cop' Into 1,971 Sites". Variety. December 5, 1984. p. 3.
  40. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  41. ^ Beverly Hills Cop at the American Film Institute Catalog
  42. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 15, 2002). "Top 50 worldwide grossers". Variety. p. 52, Paramount at 90 supplement.
  43. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  44. ^ "'BEVERLY HILLS COP III' COULD FINALLY GET ROLLING THIS SUMMER". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  45. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  46. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  47. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop II". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  48. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop II". Metacritic. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  49. ^ Jump up to: a b "CinemaScore". Archived from the original on 2018-07-22. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  50. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop III". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  51. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop III". Metacritic. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  52. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Awards". Internet Movie Database. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  53. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  54. ^ "Films in Close Race for Globe Awards". Wilmington Morning Star. Associated Press. 1988-01-06. p. 6D. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  55. ^ "1987 Archive". Razzies.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-01. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  56. ^ "Beverly Hills Cop - Soundtrack details". Soundtrack Collector. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  57. ^ "Crazy Frog - Axel F". YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
Retrieved from ""