Get the Detroit Lions jacket out of mothballs. Key up the trademark Harold Faltermeyer theme song. And get me Judge Reinhold on the phone! Paramount wants back in the Beverly Hills Cop business, planning a reboot of the famous franchise with producer Jerry Bruckheimer back in the fold.
Deadline reports that the longtime blockbuster producer has set up a three-year, first-look deal with Paramount that will begin with the Beverly Hills Cop feature, which the trade site describes as "a reboot," but one that will have original star Eddie Murphy back in the lead role of wise-cracking detective Axel Foley.
The site says the story will bring Foley back to his Detroit roots – which cancels out the need for Beverly Hills, no? – and will be directed by Btett Ratner. The filmmaker worked with Murphy on the hit comedy Tower Heist, and has helmed his own brand of action films with the Rush Hour films, as well as the upcoming Hercules, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
The idea of a new Cop story has been floating around for a while. At one point, it was going to be a TV series, with Foley’s son working as a detective while Murphy would be the chief of police, but the project didn't go to series. And with Bruckheimer back at Paramount, he probably feels he has enough muscle to push this into theaters, and so long as Ratner and Murphy are willing, this sequel will see the light of day. Let’s just hope Murphy remembers how to be THIS funny, and stays away from the nonsense that was Beverly Hills Cop 3.
In the same story, Bruckheimer expresses interest in pushing the dormant Top Gun 2 project, which had Tom Cruise attached to reprise his role at one point. The sequel disappeared when director Tony Scott took his own life. But again, as with Cop, if principle talents like Cruise and Bruckheimer want to get on board, Paramount has options. On the surface, it sounds like everything old will be new again at Paramount. And instead of rebooting series with new actors, the studio (and Bruckheimer) will tap directly into our nostalgia by bringing us stars like Murphy and Cruise in familiar roles. Will it work? Wait and see!
