The full-length trailer for Netflix’s R-rated “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is online.
This one has Eddie Murphy playing Alex Foley, his iconic character from the 1980s. The trailer has a lot of action, and more jokes landed that I originally suspected. It’s basically nostalgia upped to the nth degree, and Netflix has decided to keep the original’s R-rating. so there’s some hope.
Then again, “Coming 2 America” was such sh*t that expectations should probably be tampered for this one. With that said, ‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ has been playing very well with test audiences. It test-screened in late April 2023 and again in June. A few folks told me that it’s the best ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ since the original. No, really, I’m serious, the reactions have been great, so much so that I thought maybe Netflix might be releasing it theatrically.
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is said to take a very nostalgic route, which makes sense, especially after the success of “Top Gun: Maverick” — the main actors are all back, the same exact score is used and the action is better than ever, according to a person who saw it.
After years of delays, rewrites, and moving to a different studio in 2019, Netflix picked it up and the long-awaited sequel is now something that mainstream audiences might have a major interest in seeing.
‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ is directed by Australian director Mark Molloy. He was announced as the director in April 2023, replacing Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah after the duo wanted to focus on “Batgirl”. That turned out great for them, didn’t it?
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” stars Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kevin Bacon, Taylour Paige, Judge Reinhold, John Ahston, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot. Here’s the synopsis:
Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills once more after receiving a phone call from an old friend warning that his estranged daughter Jane might be in danger. Quickly making new enemies as he teams up with Jane and her ex, Detective Bobby Tapia, Axel finds himself caught up in a conspiracy stretching between deadly cartels, even the Beverly Hills Police.
The movie is expected to hit Netflix on July 3. No theaters. This could have meant millions in box-office revenue for them, but, as usual, they’re not budging.
The theatrical version runs 108 minutes, so we're talking a nearly 2-hour-10-minute cut of a movie that works because it's lean, and I'm not sure anyone needs that.