Even though the priority is to develop as much in-house content as possible that’s got the potential to expand into a franchise or even a cinematic universe on occasion, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley is proof that Netflix is happy to get into the legacy business as and when it sees fit.
To be fair, somebody had to drag the fourth installment in the classic saga out of development hell, where it had been stuck ever since the third entry hit theaters back in 1994. There’s been no shortage of false starts in that time – and even a TV series that wasn’t picked up despite Eddie Murphy reprising his legendary role in a supporting capacity – but Bad Boys for Life and Batgirl duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah cobbled together the current version, before being replaced by Mark Molloy when they unfortunately decided the doomed DCU blockbuster was the priority.
Shooting wrapped at the beginning of the year prior to the dual-pronged strikes grinding the industry to a standstill, with the fourth Beverly Hills Cop tentatively scheduled to hit Netflix next year. However, World of Reel is reporting that early test screenings have received rave reactions, to the extent the company might even be considering premiering the finished film before the end of 2023.
There’s no confirmation or denial that Axel Foley is even close to being ready to hit screens within the next four months, but it would be an ironic development were the streamer famed for its relentlessly mediocre action flicks to deliver one of its best-ever by dusting off a property that debuted in 1984 and had spent 75 percent of the intervening four decades stuck firmly in cinematic purgatory.