Eddie Murphy is a Hollywood veteran who has starred in many beloved films through his decades-long career.
The intrepid actor does, however, consider his role of Axel Foley in the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise to be one that stands out among the rest.
“Before ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ there had never been a movie that starred a Black man, a Black person, that was successful all around the world,” Murphy said in a recent interview with Extra, pegged to the upcoming fourth installment of the movie series titled “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.”
Murphy went on to say that “even still to this day, when Black folks, we make movies, most of the time they work in the States and outside of the country, they don’t work.”
The Oscar-nominated actor mentioned his previous work in “The Nutty Professor” and “Coming to America” as examples of movies he starred in that were global hits, but said that “’Beverly Hills Cop’ started it and started that.”
“That’s where you get Will (Smith) and The Rock, they do it now,” he said. “But ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ is the first one that did it.”
Capping on that worldwide love for the franchise, Murphy also confirmed that a fifth installment is currently in the works, and that the film’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer is “working on the script.”
“Beverly Hills Cop” first premiered in 1984 and became a career-defining role for Murphy. It earned an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay and spawned two sequels – 1987’s “Beverly Hills Cop II” and 1994’s “Beverly Hills Cop III” – before the impending fourth entry.
Starring Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Bronson Pinchot, Lisa Eilbacher, Paul Reiser and John Ashton, the Martin Brest-directed first film followed Foley, a rebellious Detroit cop, as he investigates the murder of a childhood friend in Beverly Hills.
Reinhold, Reiser, Ashton and Pinchot are set to reprise their roles in the Mark Molloy-directed “Axel F” alongside Murphy. Franchise freshmen Kevin Bacon, Taylour Paige and Joseph Gordon-Levitt round out the cast.
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” will be available to stream on Netflix on July 3.