‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ Moves Forward With New Directors
The on-again, off-again development process onBeverly Hills Cop 4is officially on again. Paramount has tapped Belgian filmmakersAdil El ArbiandBilall Fallahto direct the next installment of the action-comedy series, which will bringEddie Murphy’s Axel Foley back to his Detroit roots.
Deadlinebroke news of the newBeverly Hills Cop 4directors. El Arbi and Fallah are best known for their TIFF dramaBlack, a Romeo and Juliet tale about a teenage girl who falls for a member of a rival gang in Brussels. The film hasn’t hit U.S. theaters yet (though it did play at SXSW this spring), but has earned strong reviews on the festival circuit thanks to its gritty sensibility and stylish flair.
Murphy and producerJerry Bruckheimerreportedly adoredBlackand were pleased to learn that El Arbi and Fallah were fans ofBeverly Hills Cop. One thing led to another, and now the duo are set to direct.Beverly Hills Cop 4represents a big leap forward for the directors in terms of budget and notoriety. Paramount’s hope is that they’ll inject some “youthful energy” into the 32-year-old franchise, which last released a film 22 years ago.
Paramount has been trying to revive itsBeverly Hills Copseries for a long time. After years of unsuccessful attempts to make aBeverly Hills Cop 4, the property was reworked as a TV series for CBS. When the pilot failed to get picked up, Paramount decided to try again for aBeverly Hills Cop 4movie. In 2014 the studio set a spring 2016 release date forBeverly Hills Cop 4, but then quietly yanked it back off the calendar when progress proved slow.
El Arbi and Fallah will direct from a script byJosh AppelbaumandAndre Nemec, whose credits includeTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the ShadowsandMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.Beverly Hills Cop 4, which Deadline describes as “gritty with the trademark irreverent humor” of the early installments, will send Axel Foley back to Detroit. No new release date has been announced.
