Eddie Murphy Brings ‘80s to Modern Day with New ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Film 

Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Eddie Murphy Brings ‘80s to Modern Day with New ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Film 

Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the World premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, US June 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Thirty years since his third and last outing, Eddie Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop" Axel Foley is back on another investigation.

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.

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 then I 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."

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

"I looked at those first two films and I was like, I want to make a film like that," he said.

"I wanted to ground it and make it humble and also I 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."



‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Scares Off 'Transformers' for 3rd Week as Box Office No. 1

Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
TT

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Scares Off 'Transformers' for 3rd Week as Box Office No. 1

Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)

It’s a three-peat for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
The Tim Burton legacy sequel to his 1988 horror comedy topped the North American box office charts for the third straight weekend with $26 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
It edged out the animated new release “Transformers: One,” which brought in $25 million. The Optimus Prime origin story from Paramount Pictures features the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry and Scarlett Johansson.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” a Warner Bros. release with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder returning as stars, has earned more than $226 million domestically in its three weeks after a monster opening of $110 million — the third best of the year — and a second weekend of $51.6 million, The Associated Press reported.
Third place went to the James McAvoy horror “Speak No Evil,” which came in at $5.9 million in its second week for a total of $21.5 million.
On the whole, the box office was in a quiet phase that is expected to break when “Joker: Folie à Deux” dances its way onto the big screen on Oct. 4.
The year’s second-highest grosser “Deadpool & Wolverine” remained in the top 5 in its ninth weekend with another $3.9 million and a domestic total of $627 million. Only Pixar's “Inside Out 2” has earned more.
The Demi Moore-starring, Coralie Fargeat-directed body horror “The Substance," which made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival, brought in $3.1 million on limited screens in its first weekend for the sixth spot.
The Daily Wire movie “Am I Racist?” — in which conservative columnist Matt Walsh goes undercover as a “DEI trainee” — stayed in the top 10 after a fourth place finish last week, earning $2.9 million for seventh place and a two-week total of $9 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.