Much of the moviegoing world watched with astonishment in 2022 when Tom Cruise reprised his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick. Cruise and his collaborators, including veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer, took great care in ensuring the beloved character’s return was worth the wait. Bruckheimer will revive yet another iconic franchise in 2024 with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. The long-awaited sequel in the Eddie Murphy-led film series has a lot riding on it, and fans surely have high expectations. What some may be comforted to hear, though, is that there’s one key element that the movie has in common with Maverick, according to Bruckheimer.
There’s a lot to love about Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun sequel. The performances are electric, the production design is ambitious and the aerial-related action is nothing short of incredible. But there’s another important aspect of the motion picture that resonates with audiences, and Jerry Bruckheimer pointed it out while previewing the latest Beverly Hills Cop movie. The 80-year-old producer teased that the action-comedy will have its share of thrills. However, like the aviator flick, there’s a true level of sentimentality that’ll be at play as well:
It’s about the emotion. No matter how funny it is, how much great action it has, it’s all about the heartstrings.
The filmmaker brought up a very astute point while discussing his latest film with Empire Magazine. All of the stunts and special effects don’t amount to anything unless there’s true emotion driving the narrative for which they’re utilized. Jerry Bruckheimer would know this better than anyone. Over the years, he’s produced films like Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Bad Boys for Life and the aforementioned Top Gun: Maverick, which feature plenty of bombastic sequences but also have moments of genuine emotion. As a fan, I’m glad to hear he’s taking that same approach with the Eddie Murphy-fronted sequel.
After years of sitting in development hell, movement on a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie truly began around the late 2010s, with Bad Boys for Life’s Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah attached to direct. By 2019, it was announced that Netflix had reached an agreement with Paramount Pictures to release the film. Arbi and Fallah eventually exited the production in a behind-the-scenes shakeup and, by 2022, it was confirmed that Australian filmmaker Mark Malloy had been tapped to secede them. Earlier this year, Eddie Murphy explained that he was convinced to do the film after Jerry Bruckheimer officially returned to his post as the franchise’s producer. Murphy said that “started to come together” after Bruckheimer jumped into the mix.
Thanks to Empire, we now know a bit more about Beverly Hills Cop 4, in regard to its plot. The movie will see Axel returning to California after being pulled into a case by his estranged daughter, Jane, who’s a criminal defense attorney. In the process, Foley gets paired up with Det. Bobby Abbott (Jane’s former boyfriend) to crack the case. Axel Foley has a talented cast, which aside from Eddie Murphy, includes franchise newcomers Taylour Paige, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kevin Bacon. Series veterans Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot are also along for the ride this time.
Something tells me we’re in for a reconciliation story of sorts between Axel and Jane, and that could very well be where the heart of the movie lies. Top Gun: Maverick told such a tale using Maverick and Rooster, the son of his late wingman, Goose, and it worked well. Hopefully, if that is what Jerry Bruckheimer and co. are going for with BHC4, it’ll be as effective as it was in Maverick.
An official release date for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley has yet to be announced, but be sure you have a Netflix subscription so you’ll be able to stream it whenever it hits the 2024 movie schedule. You can also stream the first three movies alongside Top Gun: Maverick using a Paramount+ subscription.