Beverly Hills Cop 4 is coming together at Netflix. The film is expected to release next year but such a placeholder means little in a year where delays and production shutdowns have run rampant throughout Hollywood due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the show is going on for the creatives behind-the-scenes which will be bringing together a story for Eddie Murphy to reprise the role of Axel Foley with the directors of Bad Boys For Life at the helm. Adil El Abi and Bilall Fallah, a duo which promises they are “living a fanboy’s dream,” enthusiastically looking forward to directing the film and have ideas of their own for an epic crossover with their most recent endeavor.
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“There’s a screenwriter who’s writing a screenplay now at this point,” El Arbi says. “So yeah, we’re waiting for first draft and see what happens then.” The screenwriters for the film, André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum have a range of credits to their names, including titles ranging from Mission: Impossible to Ninja Turtles films. If the film is anything like El Arbi and Fallah’s efforts on Bad Boys For Life, it should be a respectful homage to previously great works which also builds the franchise into a whole new directions.
While there are no concrete plans for El Arbi and Fallah to return on a fourth Bad Boys movie, they do love the idea of crossing over the two properties. When asked which character they would love to see Will Smith‘s Mike Lowrey and Martin Lawrence‘s Marcus Burnett crossover with, they simultaneously spout, “Axel Foley!”
“Axel Foley, we thought about that already!” Fallah says, and it doesn’t seem too far outside of the realm of possibilities. “Because it would be cool if there’s like really Beverly Hills Cop and Bad Boys together in the same universe because it’s the Jerry Bruckheimer universe, so.” Bruckheimer is a producer on both franchises.
In a way, a crossover between the Bad Boys characters and Beverly Hills Cop 4 lead has already come to fruition.
Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, and Wesley Snipes took a photo together at Tyler Perry Studios, where they were all working on a pair of different movies at the same time.
“Yeah, you know, we were doing the re-shoots of Bad Boys in Atlanta and they were shooting Coming 2 America,” Fallah recalls. “And then Will and Martin came to the trailer of Eddie Murphy, Eddie Murphy came, and Will was looking at Eddie Murphy like, you know, like a real don, you know.”
“He’s the godfather,” El Arbi adds of the Beverly Hills Cop star. “Just seeing them together we were like, ‘Oh, sh-t that would be nice dude,’ to have a crossover.”
While the crossover will probably be prevented due to contracts, licenses, and studio agreements which tend to rain on those possibility parades, the idea is fun regardless. “We’ll put some Easter eggs,” El Arbi jokes. “Some Easter eggs in there!”
Watch ComicBook.com’s full interview with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah in the video above as their Bad Boys For Life movie is available now on blu-ray, 4K, and digital downloads. Are you ready to see Axel Foley meet Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Instagram!
