Beverly Hills Cop (film series)

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Beverly Hills Cop series
Directed by Martin Brest (BHC)
Tony Scott (BHC II)
John Landis (BHC III)
Written by Characters
Daniel Petrie, Jr.
Danilo Bach
Starring Eddie Murphy
Judge Reinhold
John Ashton
Ronny Cox
Music by Harold Faltermeyer
Editing by Billy Weber
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) 1984 - 2010
Running time 310 mins. (approx)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Gross revenue $ 735,534,503

Beverly Hills Cop is a series of Academy Award-nominated action-comedy films, with characters written by Daniel Petrie, Jr., Danilo Bach and starring Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton, the latter who would not appear in Beverly Hills Cop III. Harold Faltermeyer produced the now famous Axel F theme song heard throughout the films. All the films in the series so far have been distributed by Paramount Pictures. To date, the films have made a total of $ 735,534,503 world wide. A fourth film in the series is reported to be in development.

Contents

[edit] Series

[edit] Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Main article: Beverly Hills Cop

Axel Foley is introduced as a Detroit cop who after the murder of his friend travels to California to investigate and track down the killer, who he believes operate an arts dealership as a cover in Beverly Hills. He teams up with two reluctant detectives from the Beverly Hills police force who were supposed to keep a watch on him, especially after seeing Foley's different approach to tackling the situations which is not acceptable by the chief of the local police.

[edit] Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

Main article: Beverly Hills Cop II

Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills, after finding out that Captain Andrew Bogomil was shot. He once again teams up with Detective Billy Rosewood and Sgt. John Taggart, who, reluctantly and against the police chief's orders, help Foley to find out the person responsible for Bogomil's shooting. Axel, Billy, and Taggart soon discover that the alphabet robberies, a series of robberies that have been going on in the area, are masterminded by weapons kingpin Maxwell Dent. With this information, Axel, Billy, and Taggart try to find Dent and Karla.

[edit] Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)

Main article: Beverly Hills Cop III

Eddie Murphy's character, Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills once again. During an assignment, his boss, Inspector Todd gets killed, and certain evidence points towards an amusement park called "Wonderworld". Upon arriving in Beverly Hills, Axel looks up his old friend, Billy Rosewood who has attained the title of DDOJSIOC (Deputy Director of Joint Special Inter Operational Command). Taggart had retired and a new detective called Jon Flint (played by Hector Elizondo) is Rosewood's new partner.

[edit] Beverly Hills Cop IV (2010)

 This article or section contains information about one or more scheduled or expected films.
The content will change as the film's release approaches and more information becomes available.

A fourth Beverly Hills Cop film is reported to be in development. The first news arrived in 2006. [1] Producer Jerry Bruckheimer had stated his intention to resurrect the franchise, but eventually gave up his option to produce the film. Lorenzo di Bonaventura was slated to produce the film. [2] Several scripts had reportedly been produced, the latest a fusion of several of the previous versions. The film had officially been given a greenlight, and the film was said to be still in development. [3] The latest news on the project was that Murphy was reportedly happy with the current outline, which was described as an attempt to recapture "the feel of the original".[4] In May 2008, Brett Ratner was officially named director for the project. Also it was stated that there was no writers for the project as of yet, and that they were still looking. Eddie Murphy is set to reprise his role as Detective Axel Foley. It is unknown whether Judge Reinhold or John Ashton will return to reprise their roles. [5] Inspired by the success of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Paramount Pictures is said to be aiming for a 2009 production start, in time for a 2010 release. [6] Director Brett Ratner is reportedly hoping for the film to get a PG rating. [7]

[edit] Cast

Actor/Actress Character Films
Eddie Murphy Detective Axel Foley 1, 2, 3, 4
Judge Reinhold Detective Billy Rosewood 1, 2, 3, TBA
John Ashton Detective Sgt. John Taggart 1, 2, TBA
Ronny Cox Chief Andrew Bogomil 1, 2,
Gil Hill Inspector Todd 1, 2, 3
Bronson Pinchot Serge 1, 3
Paul Reiser Det. Jeffrey Friedman 1, 2

[edit] Box office

The original 1984 film was a hit, grossing $15,214,805 in its opening weekend, and $234,760,478 in total domestically, while its foreign gross totalled $81,600,000. Together it made $316,360,478 worldwide.[8]. The second film was also a hit, with its opening weekend grossing a total of $26,348,555 at 2,326 theaters. Its total domestic gross was $153,665,036, while the foreign cinemas brought in a total of $146,300,000. Together it made $299,965,036 worldwide. [9]. The third film, was critically panned, and as such only made $12,426,169 at its opening weekend. The total domestic gross for the film was $42,614,912, and foreign office brought in $76,594,077. Together the film made a total of $119,208,989 worldwide. [10]

[edit] Critical reception

The first film garnered an 82% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. [11]. 28 out of the 34 reviews were positive for the film. Movie critic Roger Ebert stated "Eddie Murphy looks like the latest victim of the Star Magic Syndrome, in which it is assumed that a movie will be a hit simply because it stars an enormously talented person."[12]. The second film, however did not fare as well, with a 48% rating, and, out of the 23 reviews for the film, 11 were positive. [13]. For the second film, Roger Ebert asked the question "What is comedy? That's a pretty basic question, I know, but Cop II never thought to ask it." As a result, he gave it a Rotten review. [14] The third film in the series, again, was not met with much enthusiasm with a 7% rating, and only 2 out of 28 reviews were positive. [15]

[edit] Awards and Nominations

The first two films received a number of award nominations. The main awards included Academy Award and Golden Globes.

Beverly Hills Cop[16]

Beverly Hills Cop II[17]

[edit] Theme

There is a recurring theme throughout the film series which can be heard, called Axel F which was composed by Harold Faltermeyer. [18] The theme became popular with the audience, and has been remixed by Crazy Frog. [19] A new version of the theme was heard in Beverly Hills Cop III, with Harold Faltermeyer not returning for the film.[20]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Murphy Back for Beverly Hills Cop IV at ComingSoon.net
  2. ^ Murphy back for more 'Beverly Hills Cop' at Variety
  3. ^ Beverly Hills Cop IV!
  4. ^ Clint Morris (2007-05-02). Beverly Hills Cop 4 finally underway?. Moviehole.net. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
  5. ^ Axel Foley smells a Rat!
  6. ^ Eddie Murphy back in 'Beverly Hills'
  7. ^ ‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ May Be Geared Towards Kids, Says Brett Ratner
  8. ^ Beverly Hills Cop (1984) at Box Office Mojo
  9. ^ Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) at Box Office Mojo
  10. ^ Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) at Box Office Mojo
  11. ^ Beverly Hills Cop (1984) at Rotten Tomatoes
  12. ^ Beverly Hills Cop review
  13. ^ Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) at Rotten Tomatoes
  14. ^ Beverly Hills Cop II review
  15. ^ Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) at Rotten Tomatoes
  16. ^ Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Awards
  17. ^ Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) Awards
  18. ^ Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack
  19. ^ Crazy Frog "Axel F"
  20. ^ Beverly Hills Cop III soundtrack

[edit] External links

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Beverly Hills Cop series
Films
Notable contributers
Characters
Music