If at first you don’t succeed, franchise, franchise again. And in the case of “Beverly Hills Cop,” it seems no one wants to let go of the character of Axel Foley. While the long-gestating “Beverly Hills Cop 4” was seemingly shot dead a couple of years ago by Eddie Murphy himself, that was predicated on the notion of a TV series moving forward. And indeed it did start developing last summer, with CBS picking it up. But that’s about where it stopped, as after some initial casting which included Murphy appearing here and there for continuity for the story of Foley Jr. and even Judge Reinhold making a cameo, it’s all over.
Slashfilm has noticed some tweets from producer Shawn Ryan from earlier this month, updating the status of the show. “Sad to report that efforts to land Beverly Hills Cop pilot at another network have failed. This iteration is dead for now,” Ryan wrote (CBS decided not to pick it up for a series). But alas, not all hope is lost. “Good news for fans of franchise is that the pilot tested so well, it has caused Paramount to put another #BHC movie into development.”
So, in short: a pilot that tested well but that no TV network wanted has enough momentum to spur a movie. Somehwere in there is some logic we’d like someone to explain to us, but whatever. Franchises never die. We can only imagine this will lead to even more years of endless “Beverley Hills Cop 4” discussions as executives figure out how to rebuild the brand for a whole new generation. Reboot? Gritty? Funny? Both? Whatever guys, just wake us up when you figure it out (again).