First Indiana Jones made a box office comeback, now Eddie Murphy is returning in a new Beverly Hills Cop movie.
Murphy is set to revive the franchise 14 years after his last outing as Axel Foley.
The 47-year-old actor will reprise his role as the wise-cracking detective in a fourth instalment.
Beverly Hills Cop 4 is scheduled to begin production next year in anticipation of a summer 2010 release.
Brett Ratner, whose previous credits include X Men: The Last Stand and the Rush Hour action trilogy, is in negotiations to direct.
Murphy approached Paramount Pictures with the idea of revisiting the franchise, according to Variety.
Paramount knows the value of reviving a winning formula - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has just taken £157 million at the box office in its opening weekend, close to a box office record.
The original Beverly Hills Cop film was released in 1984 and turned Murphy into one of the world's most bankable stars. It was the third film of his career, following 48 Hours and Trading Places, and took $316 million at the box office.
The second film in 1987 was similarly lucrative, but the last instalment in 1994 was a critical and commercial flop.
Since then, Murphy has enjoyed mixed fortunes in his acting career.
His successes, including Eighties comedy Coming to America and the animated Shrek series, in which he voices a donkey, have been matched by a series of critical disasters such as Norbit. But his performance in Dreamgirls surprised many, earning him a 2007 Oscar nomination.
Murphy's private life has kept him in the headlines of late.
Last year he fathered a baby by Spice Girl Melanie Brown but demanded a DNA test to prove paternity. He is not believed to have any contact with his daughter, Angel Iris.
Murphy is set to revive the franchise 14 years after his last outing as Axel Foley.
The 47-year-old actor will reprise his role as the wise-cracking detective in a fourth instalment.
Beverly Hills Cop 4 is scheduled to begin production next year in anticipation of a summer 2010 release.
Brett Ratner, whose previous credits include X Men: The Last Stand and the Rush Hour action trilogy, is in negotiations to direct.
Murphy approached Paramount Pictures with the idea of revisiting the franchise, according to Variety.
Paramount knows the value of reviving a winning formula - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has just taken £157 million at the box office in its opening weekend, close to a box office record.
The original Beverly Hills Cop film was released in 1984 and turned Murphy into one of the world's most bankable stars. It was the third film of his career, following 48 Hours and Trading Places, and took $316 million at the box office.
The second film in 1987 was similarly lucrative, but the last instalment in 1994 was a critical and commercial flop.
Since then, Murphy has enjoyed mixed fortunes in his acting career.
His successes, including Eighties comedy Coming to America and the animated Shrek series, in which he voices a donkey, have been matched by a series of critical disasters such as Norbit. But his performance in Dreamgirls surprised many, earning him a 2007 Oscar nomination.
Murphy's private life has kept him in the headlines of late.
Last year he fathered a baby by Spice Girl Melanie Brown but demanded a DNA test to prove paternity. He is not believed to have any contact with his daughter, Angel Iris.