Let’s get this started the right way:  Ugghhhhhhhh.  There we go.

In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Eddie Murphy discussed his career trajectory, and how he began as an edgy, brilliant comic who starred in edgy, brilliant films, to an unfunny guy who kept showing up in unfunny, family-friendly schlock.  He went on to claim that he wants to return to edgier fare… and his first step towards doing that will be a family friendly sitcom based on Beverly Hills Cop, which will be about the son of Axel Foley.  I am not kidding.

Despite the fact that a family friendly show about the son of Axel Foley that extends the very, very tired and increasingly unfunny Beverly Hills Cop series is just about the furthest thing from edgy comedy, Murphy seems determined to push this as the cutting edge art form that he’s been looking for ever since he sold his immortal soul the Onerous Deceiver and Horned Beast of Hades with Daddy Day Care:

“What I’m trying to do now is produce a TV show starring Axel Foley’s son, and Axel is the chief of police now in Detroit…None of the movie scripts were right; it was trying to force the premise. If you have to force something, you shouldn’t be doing it. It was always a rehash of the old thing. It was always wrong.”

Somehow missing the very fact that he himself seems to pushing for a rehash of the very thing he is decrying, Murphy also added that he will show up in the series pilot, as well as occasionally appear in further episodes.  His eyes then became black as night, while his tongue forked and began barking words in a bizarre language that has not touched human ears in centuries, while brimstone tinged the air and chubby little demons danced upon his shoulders while poking his neck with little pitchforks.

What do you think of the Eddie Murphy news?

Source: Rolling Stone (via The AV Club)

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Brett Ratner’s finally dishing some dirt on his upcoming reboot of Beverly Hills Cop. The director spoke to MTV about his vision for the film, and how he wants to revive the spirit of the 1984 version.  The first thing on Ratner’s agenda is to get rid of any speculation regarding the film’s title. He said, “We’re not going to call it ‘4,’ it will be a new ‘Beverly Hills Cop.” He’s also going for stronger content as well, so we won’t being seeing a PG-13 rating this time around. According to Ratner, “it’s a hard R.”

“It’s a reinvention,” the director revealed. “I’m going to reintroduce it to a contemporary audience. I’m going to take the best of the first two films and put it into the new one.” “Look at what they did with ‘Indiana Jones,’” he said. “Tonally you have three different films.”

Hmmm, Brett Ratner staying true to the original two films? I don’t know if I buy that. Look what happened to X-Men 3, and even his Rush Hour franchise. Also, not everyone was ecstatic about this last Indiana Jones movie so I don’t know if that was the best example for him to use.

As for the big question, where’s Eddie Murphy going to fit into all of this?

“Eddie Murphy to me was what Chris Tucker is to 12 and 13 year olds today,” he said. “I would never do another buddy cop movie, but to do ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ is a dream for me. Eddie is a genius.”

That wasn’t exactly a definite answer and Murphy hasn’t put out a statement regarding his involvement with the film. A Beverly Hills Cop without Eddie Murphy is pure blasphemy, but then again this is a ”remake.” Who knows, Chris Tucker might pop up as Axel’s younger brother, just waiting to pick up the franchise.

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Brett Ratner, the man who brought you the Rush Hour trilogy and the masterpiece X-Men: The Last Stand is at it again. According to Variety, Ratner has signed on to direct the graphic novel adaptation of Youngblood. The production company Reliance Big Entertainment have acquired the rights to the novel, and have inked a development deal with Ratner and his Rat Entertainment shingle for future projects.

More on Ratner after the jump.

The company paid mid six figures for the rights to “Youngblood,” about a superhero team sanctioned and overseen by the U.S. government. “Most of the great graphic novels are gone, and ‘Youngblood’ is one of the few comicbooks left with tentpole potential,” Ratner told Daily Variety. “It was a real personal passion project for me, and a lot of people wanted (‘Youngblood’), but the amazing thing about the guys at Reliance is the speed with which they’re able to move.”

Well, you heard it from the horses mouth. This project is being fast tracked, and we all know how great films turn out when that happens. The quality of the film never seems to suffer, right?

Other thanYoungblood, Ratner has been linked to several high profile film projects such as Beverly Hills Cop 4, and the revamp of Conan the Barbarian.

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The 80′s are everywhere, clothes, music, and even film. What’s next for the comeback of the new 80′s? Beverly Hills Cop 4, because three just isn’t enough! Everything seemed good to go. The fourth film has been penned by the duo behind Wanted and 3:10 to Yuma, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. The film is set to be directed by Brett Ratner who has said:

“10-year-old kids, 12-year-old kids don’t really know the old ‘Beverly Hills Cop.’ So it’s an opportunity to make it new for kids, the same way it felt for me watching ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ when I was a kid, that’s what I want to do for kids today.” [MTV]

The film will be produced by Lorenzo DiBonaventura (AKA One of the other Transformers Producers). They were hoping for a 2010 release, but not everything is falling into place.

According to LationReview’s inside source, El Chavo, “The studio loves the draft but Eddie Murphy is not too keen on it.” And let’s face it. No Murphy, no movie. They can try to recast is, but that would be like casting someone other than Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, you just can’t do it. It would turn into a Starsky & Hutch situation.

Some of you may be wondering how the hell they could even make a fourth film work. They would need a damn good reason for Axel Foley (what a name) to journey back to the Hills. Apparently Brandt and Haas have come up with this:

Judge Reinhold’s Billy Rosewood takes a leap out the 20th story of the Los Angeles Police HQ. When Axel hears that his former partner and best buddy became sidewalk salad he knows it wasn’t a suicide and he flies to Beverly Hills to get all the facts for himself.

What do you think? Sound plausible? Are you excited for a new film or would you rather just rent one of the other films on DVD?

For more on the upcoming Beverly Hills Cop plot, check out LatinoReview.

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It would be nice to have the job security that Brett Ratner seems to feel he has. While the Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, and Rush Hour 3 director had been confirmed to direct the next Beverly Hills Cop film according to this earlier report, producer Avi Lerner broke the news that Ratner had been in final negotiations to direct a remake of Conan the Barbarian as well.

According to the L.A. Times, Lerner was quite excited about signing Ratner, to the point of mentioning that when Ratner was younger, he “even wrote a story about Conan when he was 10 years old.” He also said he liked Ratner’s “childlike enthusiasm” for the project.

The “childlike enthusiasm” seems to have turned to adult rage as once Ratner was contacted, he called the reports of him directing Conan “totally premature.” He seemed to no want to mess up his deal with Paramount to direct the next Beverly Hills Cop film, saying he wanted to be clear, “I am not doing Conan now,” but he seemed to leave it open to possibly taking it on in the near future, after Beverly Hills Cop gets the official green light.

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