Eddie Murphy brings the ’80s to modern day with new ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ film

LOS ANGELES—Thirty years since his third and last outing, Eddie Murphy’s “Beverly Hills Cop” Axel Foley is back on another investigation.The new Netflix film “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” sees the rule-breaking police officer return to Beverly Hills when he discovers his estranged, public defender daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) is in danger after her investigation into a murder uncovers corruption in the Beverly Hills Police Department.

Murphy, who is joined by fellow original cast members Judge Reinhold and John Ashton, premiered the film on Thursday, fittingly across the road from the real Beverly Hills Police Department, where much of the action is set.

Iconic movie

However, this red carpet—where Murphy was joined by actor Martin Lawrence, musician Lil Nas X and others—was a far cry from the first screening of the original 1984 film.

“The first premiere was … an industry screening I went to and it didn’t go well with the audience … Then, I went to see it with a real audience and saw the real reaction to it,” Murphy said.

“Beverly Hills Cop” went on to gross over $300 million worldwide and became an iconic ’80s movie. Two other films followed in 1987 and 1994.

“This is a big part of people’s lives … it was a hit and everybody loved it, but it was more than that. They kind of warmed to it,” said actor Paul Reiser, who reprises his role as Jeffrey Friedman. “It’s like comfort food. It’s like we love that movie, we grew up on that movie.”

Embracing imperfections

The new movie also refers to the 1980s, director Mark Molloy said.

“I looked at those first two films and was like, I want to make a film like that,” he said. “I wanted to ground it and make it humble and I also wanted to shoot everything in camera, make some mistakes. Those films are imperfect … and I wanted to embrace that and create a film that felt very nostalgic, but was in the contemporary world.”

The film, which begins streaming on July 3, also stars Kevin Bacon as a sinister senior cop and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Foley’s new sidekick.

“I’m happy the movie worked out right and that it’s super audience-friendly,” Murphy said. “It’s always great when you do a good movie.” —Reuters