Beverly Hills Cop 4 still happening says director Adil El Arbi: There’s a screenwriter now on it’

It has been slow going but Eddie Murphy is on track to reprise his role as Axel Foley in the fourth installment of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise.

The film’s directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who have tied to the film since 2016, assured fans that the cop comedy is still a go.

The Beverly Hills franchise has been dormant since the third installment hit theaters in 1994.  

‘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,’ El Arbi told Digital Spy. 

‘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.’ 

The directing duo of El Arbi and Fallah most recently helmed 2019’s Bad Boys For Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

In October 2019, Murphy told Collider he was going to film Beverly Hills Cop 4 after he did the sequel to Coming To America.    

The following month Paramount signed a deal with Netflix to release Beverly Hills Cop 4 on the streaming service with Jerry Bruckheimer back as producer and an option for a further sequel if the fourth movie does well. 

The original 1984 film was a bona fide hit in the US, raking in more than $234 million dollars, making it the highest grossing film of that year. 

Beverly Hills Cop II was also a smash at the box office three years later, grossing more than $153 million domestically, while matching the original’s $300 million take worldwide.

The third installment in 1994 made $42.6 million in the US and just over $119 million worldwide.     

‘When I was a kid, it was one of my favorite movies. It was the quintessential Jerry Bruckheimer movie – a buddy cop, humor action movie,’ El Arbi said. 

‘And of course, Eddie Murphy is an idol.’

Fallah added: ‘Yeah, he is the Godfather!’