| Beverly Hills Cop series | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Martin Brest (I) Tony Scott (II) John Landis (III) |
| Written by | Daniel Petrie, Jr. Danilo Bach |
| Starring | Eddie Murphy Judge Reinhold John Ashton Ronny Cox |
| Music by | Harold Faltermeyer |
| Editing by | Billy Weber |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1984-1994 |
| Running time | 310 minutes (approx) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $85.5 million |
| Box office | $735,534,503 |
Beverly Hills Cop is a series of action-comedy films, with characters written by Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Danilo Bach. The films star Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton, though Ashton does not appear in Beverly Hills Cop III. Harold Faltermeyer produced the now famous "Axel F" theme song heard throughout the films. All the films in the series so far have been distributed by Paramount Pictures. To date, the films have made a total of $735,534,503 world wide.
Contents |
In 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), who he believes operate an arts dealership as a cover in Beverly Hills. He teams up with two reluctant detectives, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton), from the Beverly Hills police force who were supposed to keep a watch on him, especially after seeing Foley's different approach to tackling the situations which were considered unacceptable by the chief of the local police. In Beverly Hills Cop II, Axel Foley 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 the police chief Harold Lutz's orders, help Foley to find out the person responsible for Bogomil's shooting. Axel, Billy, and Taggart 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. With this information, Axel, Billy, and Taggart try to find Dent and his lover, Karla Fry (Brigitte Nielsen), (who had shot Bogomil). In the 1994 sequel, Beverly Hills Cop III, Eddie Murphy's character, Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills once again. During an assignment, his boss, Inspector Todd gets killed, and certain evidence points towards an amusement park called "Wonderworld." Upon arriving in Beverly Hills, Axel looks up his old friend, Billy Rosewood who has attained the title of DDOJSIOC (Deputy Director of Joint Special Inter Operational Command). Taggart and Bogomil have retired and a new detective called Jon Flint (Hector Elizondo) is Rosewood's new partner.
| Character | Film | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Beverly Hills Cop | Beverly Hills Cop II | Beverly Hills Cop III | |
| Axel Foley | Eddie Murphy | ||
| Billy Rosewood | Judge Reinhold | ||
| John Taggart | John Ashton | ||
| Andrew Bogomil | Ronny Cox | ||
| Douglas Todd | Gil Hill | ||
| Serge | Bronson Pinchot | Bronson Pinchot | |
| Jeffrey Friedman | Paul Reiser | ||
| Jon Flint | Héctor Elizondo | ||
| Role | Film | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Beverly Hills Cop | Beverly Hills Cop II | Beverly Hills Cop III | |
| Director | Martin Brest | Tony Scott | John Landis |
| Producers | Don Simpson Jerry Bruckheimer |
Mace Neufeld Robert Rehme |
|
| Writers | Daniel Petrie, Jr. Danilo Bach |
Larry Ferguson Warren Skaaren Eddie Murphy Robert D. Wachs |
Steven E. de Souza |
| Music | Harold Faltermeyer | Nile Rodgers Harold Faltermeyer |
|
| Cinematographer | Bruce Surtees | N/A | N/A |
There is a recurring instrumental theme throughout the film series called Axel F, which was composed by Harold Faltermeyer.[1] The theme became popular with audiences, and has been remixed by Crazy Frog.[2] A new version of the theme was heard in Beverly Hills Cop III, with Harold Faltermeyer not returning for the film.[3]
A fourth entry in the series was initially announced for release in the mid-1990s, under the production of Eddie Murphy's own production company "Eddie Murphy Productions", though production later fizzled out.[4] It was re-announced in 2006, when producer Jerry Bruckheimer announced his intention to resurrect the franchise, though he eventually gave up his option to produce the film, instead passing production duties to Lorenzo di Bonaventura.[5][6]
In September 2006 a script, an amalgamation of several earlier drafts, was presented to Murphy who was reported to be "very happy" with the outline which was described as an attempt to recapture the "feel of the original".[7][8] Murphy admitted one of his motivations for making a fourth Beverly Hills Cop film was to make up for the fact the third film was "horrible" and that "he didn't want to leave (the series) like that".[9][10]
In May 2008, Rush Hour director Brett Ratner was officially named director, who promised the film would return under the series standard "R" rating, rather than as a rumored watered down PG-13.[11][12] Michael Brandt and Derek Haas were hired as screenwriters to improve on the existing script in July 2008[13] and completed a new script, under the working title "Beverly Hills Cop 2009", which would see Foley return to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his friend Billy Rosewood.[4] The script was eventually rejected, leaving Ratner to work on a new idea. In an interview with Empire, Ratner stated "I'm working very hard on the fourth. It's very difficult, especially since there were three before. We're trying to figure out some important things, like where do we start? Is Axel retired? Is he in Beverly Hills? Is he on vacation? Does Judge Reinhold return as the loveable Billy Rosewood? Many questions to figure out, but I'm hoping to have a script before film disappears from our existence."[4] Although Murphy himself committed to the project, it was unconfirmed whether the series other principal actors, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox or Bronson Pinchot would also return,[14] though Brett Ratner stated in late 2009 that he was trying to convince Reinhold and Ashton to reprise their roles.[15] Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F", however, would definitely be returning for the proposed fourth installment, with Ratner quoted as saying "It'll be back but it'll be a whole new interpretation."[16] On November 15, 2010 Ratner stated in an interview with MTV that there was still a possibility that they will make the fourth film, but guarantees that it won't be "anytime soon".[17]
In October 2011, Murphy stated "They're not doing it. What I'm trying to do now is produce a TV show starring Axel Foley's son, and Axel is the chief of police now in Detroit. I'd do the pilot, show up here and there. None of the movie scripts were right; it was trying to force the premise. If you have to force something, you shouldn't be doing it. It was always a rehash of the old thing. It was always wrong."[18]
| Film | Release date | Box office revenue | Box office ranking | Budget | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Foreign | Worldwide | All time domestic | All time worldwide | ||||
| Beverly Hills Cop | December 5, 1984 | $234,760,478 | $81,600,000 | $316,360,478 | #61 #39(A) |
#193 | $15,000,000 | [19][20] |
| Beverly Hills Cop II | May 20, 1987 | $153,665,036 | $146,300,000 | $299,965,036 | #178 #157(A) |
#216 | $20,000,000 | [21][22] |
| Beverly Hills Cop III | May 25, 1994 | $42,614,912 | $76,594,077 | $119,208,989 | #1,305 | $50,000,000 | [23] | |
| Total | $431,040,426 | $304,494,077 | $735,534,503 | $85,500,000 | ||||
List indicator(s)
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| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | Cream of the Crop | |
| Beverly Hills Cop | 83% (36 reviews)[24] | 60% (5 reviews)[25] |
| Beverly Hills Cop II | 46% (24 reviews)[26] | |
| Beverly Hills Cop III | 10% (29 reviews)[27] | 0% (5 reviews)[28] |
Beverly Hills Cop[29]
Beverly Hills Cop II[30]
Beverly Hills Cop III
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