Nessie being landed by a child with a toy fishing rod. Martians arriving and admitting that the whole Jesus thing was “pretty much a big prank by students”. Uwe Boll winning an Oscar.
As the years passed, we’ve begun to believe that all of the above were more likely than Eddie Murphy jumping back into Axel Foley’s shoes and thwarting more crooks on the streets of Beverly Hills. After years of false starts and unlikely premises, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Foley and co were gone for good, particularly after the third film, which limped into cinemas in 1994, made a fragment of the box office enjoyed by its forebears.
But what a difference Shrek success and a little positive word of mouth about Dreamgirls can make – Murphy’s gearing back up to make a new Beverly Hills Cop and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura will be producing, and clearly realises the challenges ahead. “Axel Foley is one of the great action-comedy characters, a character that Eddie loves. I'm lucky enough to help bring it back," di Bonaventura told Variety. "This genre is missing from the landscape."
Can Murphy still make it as Axel? Time for the forums to light up, we think…