The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub speaks with
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mark Molloy.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
premieres on Netflix with Eddie Murphy reprising his iconic role as Axel Foley.
Bruckheimer and Molloy discuss practical action sequences, the challenges filming in Los Angeles posed, and the next
Pirates of the Caribbean
movie.

It’s a great time to be an ’80s franchise right now. Instead of hitting theaters this week, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is heading to Netflix, where Eddie Murphy will reprise his iconic turn as Axel Foley, along with a couple of familiar faces. It took 30 years for this installment to get the green light, but when the notable Jerry Bruckheimer joined the effort, the ball began to roll, and they onboarded first-time feature director Mark Molloy, who had a strong vision for Foley’s return.

“They love me in Beverly Hills,” Axel assures his longtime friend, Jeffrey (played once again by Paul Reiser), in the teaser. The Detroit detective has packed his bags and sets off — again — for the Sunshine State. But to come back a fourth time, the stakes have to be high. This time, Axel’s daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige), is threatened. The two of them team up with Detective Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and some old friends, John Taggart (John Ashton) and Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), and end up discovering a conspiracy.

In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Bruckheimer and Molloy talk about taking fans (new and old) back to the classic ’80s action that made Beverly Hills Cop a movie night staple. They talk about forfeiting heavy CGI for, instead, practical action set pieces that bring the danger back to this explosive franchise and discuss which scene was the toughest to get right. They also talk about the merits of filming on location in Los Angeles, shutting down a major boulevard, and Bruckheimer shares an update for the long-awaited Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Check out the full interview in the video above, or read the transcript below.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills after his daughter’s life’s threatened. Includes old pals John Taggart and Billy Rosewood to uncover a conspiracy.Release Date July 3, 2024 Director Mark Molloy Writers Will Beall , Daniel Petrie Jr. , Tom Gormican , Kevin Etten Studio Paramount Pictures Expand

‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ Brings Back Classic ’70s and ’80s Danger

COLLIDER: One of the things that I couldn’t believe about this film is how much practical you did. I’m so done with the overbearing CGI. I loved what you did on Wilshire Boulevard and at the police station with the helicopter. How tough was it to do all this practically in LA, where nothing is being filmed in LA anymore?

MARK MOLLOY: It’s much harder to do it that way, but I was very adamant from the start that I wanted to make the danger real. I agree, sometimes there’s so much CGI these days that everything’s so over-designed and perfect that you don’t feel that danger anymore. And I look back at those films, Beverly Hills Cop 1 and Beverly Hills Cop 2, and a lot of action from the ‘70s and ‘80s, and the danger is so much more apparent. But it was difficult, especially on location in LA, flying helicopters through the streets. It was much more difficult. But I’m glad that when you watch the film, you can feel that there.

As the producer, can you talk a little bit about the challenges and how it was actually securing all this and being able to film in LA?

JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: They want you to film here in our film communities here. Unfortunately, it’s more expensive, so you have to convince the studio to spend the extra money to make it real. Netflix was very terrific about that. They understood the importance of getting this right and being in Beverly Hills, being in California. It was a real pleasure to get it right, and they are the ones who wrote the check, so we gotta thank them.

I also would like to thank Netflix. I love talking about the editing because it’s ultimately where it all comes together. Can you talk a little bit about what you learned from early friends and family screenings or test screenings that impacted the finished film?

MOLLOY: We had the tone of the film right. We learned there were some areas that we could improve on, but we learned that the fans loved it. Do you know what I mean? The fans really embraced it, so we wanted to hold on to that. But we also took a lot of learnings of how new people are coming into it and how we bring new people into the franchise too.

Related ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Could Have Had a Very Different Axel Foley Beverly Hills Cop was almost a serious, action-heavy movie.

Were there any big changes or certain things that you guys debated over where an early screening pointed you in the right direction?

BRUCKHEIMER: Always. You find some scenes you don’t need. They’re repetitive, the audience wants to move on. They get it. They’re a lot smarter than we are. They always raise their hand and catch our mistakes. That’s great when they do that.

What shot or sequence did you two debate over the most?

BRUCKHEIMER: I think the toughest one is the helicopter one. I think that was the most dangerous and worrisome for all of us to get it right. He wanted to do in-camera, and we supported him for that, and we had to get through the city of Beverly Hills. We had the shop owners and everything sign off that we could take over the streets. Also, when I say dangerous, it’s only dangerous because of the telephone wires and the electrical wires when helicopters get so low, and the wind shifts and all kinds of crazy things can happen. But knock on wood. It’s really exhilarating on screen. We got through it with no problems.

There Isn’t One But Two Potential Pirates of the Caribbean Scripts
Image by Collider 

Jerry, I’m obviously a huge fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and I know there’s been a lot of talk of what’s gonna happen next, so as of today, at this moment, where are we at in terms of another Pirates movie?

BRUCKHEIMER: We are working on it. Jeff Nathanson is working on a script. We have two, and we don’t know who’s gonna win the horse race at this point. But hopefully, in the next month, I’ll have a script, and maybe Disney will want to make it.

I’m confident they will. This is your first time making a big-budget Hollywood movie. What surprised you about the process that you really didn’t think about going in?

MOLLOY: So this is not just my first big Hollywood film, this is my first film. [Laughs] Not that this surprised me, but it’s just the magic you get when you get Eddie Murphy, Kevin Bacon, Joe [Gordon-Levitt], these guys on screen together, and you’ll watch that unfold in front of you as a first-time director. I was just my happy place. It’s just wonderful to watch amazingly talented people like that come together and share the screen.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is available to stream on Netflix starting July 3rd.

Watch on Netflix