Summary
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Fis loaded with easter eggs, but it borrowed its best gag from the franchise’s failed TV pilot.Eddie Murphy hated theBeverly Hills Copsequels(though his stance on the second movie has since softened), and refused to return for a fourth movie with a good script in place. This led to a lengthy development cycle, with Netflix’sBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fproving to be worth the extended wait. Murphy proved yet again he’s one of the funniest movie stars of his generation, and the sequel has been a big hit for the streamer.
In light of the sequel’s success, it feels inevitableBeverly Hills Cop 5will get greenlit. The series has come a long way from the failure of the thirdBeverly Hills Copmoviein 1994. This lackluster outing sent Murphy’s Axel to a Disneyland-esque theme park, and was so poorly received it felt like a franchise killer. In the gap between the third film andAxel F,CBS greenlit aBeverly Hills CopTV pilot that failed to launch a series.
Axel F Rips Off The Best Improv Gag From CBS' Failed Beverly Hills Cop Pilot
Axel F recycled a few ideas from CBS' take on Beverly Hills Cop
The 2013Beverly Hills Coppilotcast Brandon T. Jackson as Aaron Foley, Axel’s son. The setup for the show saw Aaron heading to Beverly Hills on a case and deciding to stay there having weekly misadventures. The big news surrounding the CBS pilot was that Murphy would be making a guest appearance as Axel, who would arrive to assist Aaron during his investigation. The network ultimately passed on the show, thoughcopies of theBeverly Hills Coppilot later found their way online(viaInternet Archive) for fans to judge for themselves.
What’s interesting to note is that one ofBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F’sfunniest scenes bears a resemblance to a sequence from the pilot. InAxel F,the title character uses his trademark powers of improv to get information out of people. This includes flattering the manager of an impound lot named Boghos (Sean Liang), who was also an extra in sci-fi bombJupiter Ascending. Axel does well until his daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) decides to make his job harder by tossing in improvs of her own, including asking him to explainJupiter Ascending’splot.
And no,Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Factor Sean Liang does NOT appear inJupiter Ascending.
CBS’sBeverly Hills Copfeatured a similar improv heavy session between Foley and his sonwhen they’re trying to earn a free room in a fancy hotel. This involves Axel pretending to be Beyonce and Jay Z’s party planner, with Aaron being his assistant. Just when Aaron is making progress, Axel decides to mix things up by making their lie more elaborate, including inquiring about a pony they need for a party. This is one of the few standout moments from the pilot, and whileAxel Fdoes it’s own spin, it’s essentially the same gag.
Why CBS Passed On The Beverly Hills Cop Pilot
Eddie Murphy turned out to be the pilot’s biggest problem
The CBSBeverly Hills Coppilot was announced to great fanfare, but went nowhere fast. An issue with the episode is that it’s more or less a standard CBS procedural, but one that aims to be a little funnier. Murphy only has a handful of scenes and is (naturally) really charming and hilarious whenever he pops up. During an interview withIndieWirein 2019,Murphy explained that his presence in the episode turned out to be an unexpected issue.
The reason that didn’t get picked up was because [the studio] thought that I was going to be in this show, because [the lead] was my son: “And you’re going to pop in every now and then.” I was like, “I ain’t popping in s***.” “Well, we ain’t making this TV show.” I was in the pilot, but they wanted me to be there every week. The pilot was really good. It tested where they have these knobs [that you] turn if you like it. And whenever I came on the screen, Axel Foley would come on the screen, they turned it so they literally broke the knobs on the thing. It was like, “Damn, they breaking knobs?
Indeed, the best parts of the pilot are between Axel and Aaron, but a comic void opens up whenever Murphy is offscreen. Murphy’s appearance also felt like a passing of the torch, to the extent that it ends with Axel gifting his son his iconic Detroit Lions jacket. The issue was that audienceswantedMurphy to co-star, which was something he was unwilling to do.
Axel F Ignores CBS' Beverly Hills Cop
Aaron Foley doesn’t make a surprise cameo
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Freveals a lot happened in the 30 years since the third movie. Axel got married and had a child, but he pushed them out of Detroit once the mafia threatened their lives.Jane is an only child inAxel F, meaning the pilot episode is officially non-canonwith the movies. This isn’t any kind of surprise, considering hardly anybody has seen the pilot and it would be odd to drop in references to it.
How Axel F Sets Up Beverly Hills Cop 5
It took 30 years for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F to happen, but does the Eddie Murphy sequel leave the door open for a Beverly Hills Cop 5?
Another odd similarity betweenBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fand the pilot is that they both leave the mother of Axel’s children intentionally vague. Presumably, Aaron’s mother is Janice Perkins (Theresa Randle) fromBeverly Hills Cop 3, though this is left ambiguous. The fourth film goes out of its way to rule this out, establishing Axel’s daughter Jane was bornbeforethe events of the third film, and that her mother’s maiden name is Saunders.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
Cast
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is the fourth film in the popular comedy franchise starring Eddie Murphy. Murphy returns as Axel Foley in the Netflix film alongside returning cast members Judge Reinhold and John Ashton and Bronson Pinchot as Serge. Kevin Bacon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt also star in the sequel as new characters.
