Eddie Murphy reveals why he FINALLY said yes to Beverly Hills Cop 4 after 30 years

Virgin Radio

25 Jan 2023, 12:28

Retro favourite Beverly Hills Cop 4 with Eddie Murphy is finally on the way, but it took a long time for the Hollywood actor to say yes to the script after almost three decades since stepping into Axel Foley's shoes.

Murphy told Collider about reprising his role as the cheeky Detroit detective and feeling like he was going to die during the back-breaking stunts: "Jerry Bruckheimer, the original producer. When he got involved, and he started developing the script, and he knew what Beverly Hills Cop was supposed to be.

"When he got back involved, that's when it all started to come together. Because we tried for years and years, maybe 10, 12 years, and I must have read five or six different scripts, and it was never right.

"The studio was like, 'Let's go. Here it is.' It was like, 'It’s just not it.' Jerry Bruckheimer got back in there, and he knows his s--t, and he put it together.

"He did [Top Gun: Maverick] just last year, and Bad Boys is Jerry Bruckheimer. So we have that same brain behind Beverly Hills Cop, and he put all the pieces in place that were required for us to make a great movie. And I'm excited for people to see it."

Eddie continued: "I'm not 21. It was a long time ago, and it's a really physical movie. And then I had to do some physical stuff. I know Tom Cruise likes to do physical stuff, but […] I like to be on the couch.

"I don't like to be jumping over, and shooting, and running, and I had to do some jumping and shooting and running, and as a result, had a knee brace at the end of the movie. I had a knee brace, and my back is messed up, and all that. But the movie is going to be special.”

Murphy previously admitted when he felt his first 'I've made-it' moment - and it wasn't until the 1996 cult classic The Nutty Professor. He said: "When I was everybody around the table. I was like, ‘Hey, look, I am everybody at this table. I have arrived, I have arrived. I’m everybody? I have arrived.'"