The fourth installment in Eddie Murphy’s blockbuster hit series, Beverly Hills Cop, has found its director.
Deadline reports that Mark Molloy will helm the long-dormant project in what will serve as his first feature film. Molloy, who has made a name for himself making commercials, is not a choice most would have expected in Murphy’s return to the franchise that launched his career as a Hollywood superstar. The original film, which came out in 1984, cast Murphy as Detroit cop, Axel Foley, and topped the global box office that year with $234 million. Since then, Murphy’s gone on to star in a handful of big movies, as well as two Beverly Hills Cop sequels that came out in 1987 and 1994.
Bad Boys For Life directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, originally signed on to direct Beverly Hills Cop 4 in 2019. Unfortunately, the initial plans fell through. Instead, the directing duo worked on Batgirl, which finished production recently.
After starring in several commercial failures throughout the 2000s, Murphy has found his footing once again in his most recent films. Specifically, Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name, earned Murphy a Golden Globe nomination in 2019. The comedian also found success in another sequel in Amazon Prime Video’s Coming 2 America last year, a film that, much like its predecessor, also earned a nomination at the 94th Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Beverly Hills Cop 4’s Netflix release comes as a result of Paramount Pictures’ fire sale at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the studio sold off the rights to several films to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Unfortunately, Molloy’s debut feature film doesn’t have a production start date let alone a release window. However, cameras should start rolling after Murphy finishes his work on the still-untitled upcoming George Clinton biopic where he will star as the funk music innovator.
As for Paramount, the “Big Five” film studio later rebranded CBS All Access to Paramount+. It’s safe to say that the decision has paid off now that the streaming platform now boasts a library of must-see films like the live-action Halo TV adaptation, as well as Showtime as part of the ViacomCBS rebrand. Paramount also recently renewed its most popular show by far, Yellowstone, for a fifth season.
