Joseph Gordon-Levitt Is Joining A Comedy Classic Sequel
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has joined the cast of Beverly Hills Cop 4!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has joined the cast of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley, the long-awaited sequel to the 1980s comedy classics starring Eddie Murphy, and he’s talking about the film, according to a report by MovieWeb. There’s not much known about the plot, as producers are keeping it under wraps, but Gordon-Levitt’s role has revealed more insight. Production on the film, the fourth in the film series and the first since 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop III, is currently underway, but a release date on Netflix has not yet been announced.
Eddie Murphy has been trying to make a fourth film since the 1990s, but the poor response to the third film killed any chance of that at the time. Murphy’s career resurgence in recent years and the success of his Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name gave the streaming service the motivation to sign him for a fourth Cop film. Thankfully, in addition to new cast members like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, there will be some nice callbacks to the original films (like Murphy wearing his iconic letter jacket) and the return of former cast members.
In an interview with Collider, Joseph Gordon-Levitt talked a bit about the new film, and the impact Murphy and the Beverly Hills Cop films had on him in his youth. “The first thing I ever remember learning on piano was that theme song, ‘Axel F’, right,” he said. “I have an older brother who loved Eddie Murphy, who loved Beverly Hills Cop, as well as Raw, Delirious, and his stuff on SNL (Saturday Night Live).”
He described working with Murphy on the Cop set as a “treat,” adding “I get to hang out with Eddie Murphy and talk about movies and music and stand up…he’s such a sweetheart.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a cop dating Axel Foley’s daughter, played by Taylour Paige, and Kevin Bacon in an unannounced role. Returning from previous Beverly Hills Cop films are Judge Reinhold as Sgt. William “Billy” Rosewood, John Ashton as Sgt. John Taggart, Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers) as the scene-stealing Serge, and Paul Reiser (Aliens) as Detective Jeffrey.
While the plot is still unknown, a widely-reported (yet unconfirmed) logline summary of the film states that the film will see Axel Foley return to Beverly Hills to look into the death of an old friend while investigating police corruption. Murphy then teams up with Joseph Gordon-Levitt to solve the case.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come a long way from his role on 3rd Rock from the Sun, the NBC comedy that gave him his breakthrough role. He then starred in the critically-acclaimed films Havoc, Miracle at St. Anna, Stop-Loss, and 500 Days of Summer. He followed that up with the blockbusters G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is directed by Mark Molloy from a script written by Will Beall, Josh Appelbaum, and André Nemec. It is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Eddie Murphy, and Chad Oman. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is currently starring as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney’s live-action version of Pinocchio.
