Eddie Murphy and Jerry Bruckheimer Are Already Developing ‘Beverly Hills Cop 5’: ‘We Have a Couple of Stories in Mind’

Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix

Eddie Murphy remembers quite clearly why, back in 1984 when he was just 23 years old, he didn’t think the first “Beverly Hills Cop” was going to be a success. It all went down at the film’s first industry screening.

“It didn’t go well,” the funnyman told me Thursday at the, yes, Beverly Hills premiere of “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” the fourth installment of the action comedy franchise. “A lot of times at industry screenings they don’t laugh. I thought the movie was going to be horrible. I was with [Murphy’s ‘Trading Places’ director] John Landis and he was like, ‘No, it was great.’ I thought they hated it. Then I went and saw it with a real audience and then I saw the real reaction to it. But the very first time it was scary.”

The original movie, released 40 years ago, went onto be a major hit and spawned three follow-ups. The fourth, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” begins streaming on Netflix on July 3.

Creatives are already thinking of a fifth movie. “They’re developing it,” Murphy said. “If it comes together, we’ll be doing another one.”

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed, “We have a couple of stories in mind.”

Netflix declined to comment on a possible fifth movie.

Murphy has acknowledged that the latest film took a toll on his body. However, one of his most painful injuries happened while he was sleeping.

“I messed my knee up before the movie started,” he said. “I didn’t mess my knee up doing a stunt. I messed my knee up sleeping. I literally was sleeping one night and I felt a pop in my knee. And I thought I was sleeping wrong. When I woke up, [I realized] I pulled something. When you get in your 60s, you can mess your body up just sleeping.”