Beverly Hills Cop 4 is a project that has been in the works for so long that it’s totally reasonable if swaths of fans gave up on the idea of it actually coming together. After 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop III, there was continued hope that the next sequel could get made, but the project got stuck in development hell for years with new filmmakers becoming attached and then departing when they couldn’t produce a script up to star Eddie Murphy’s standards. Being a fan has required a lot of patience… but now the movie is actually happening.
Set to be directed by newcomer Mark Molloy and based on a script by Josh Appelbaum, Will Beall, and André Nemec, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley has made it through production and is all but firmly set to be released on Netflix in 2023. So who can we expect from the original movies to return, and who are the newcomers joining the franchise? We’ve put together this updated cast list to answer those questions, and we’ll start with the man playing the series’ eponymous hero…
Eddie Murphy (Axel Foley)
In 2021, Eddie Murphy brought back some of the most beloved characters of his career starring in Coming 2 America, and he’s following up that streaming it by returning to the world of Beverly Hills Cop as Axel Foley -- a role Paramount execs were hesitant to give him, initially. Most people’s lives change quite a bit over the span of three decades, so the expectation is that Axel won’t be quite the same guy we last saw in Beverly Hills Cop III, but at the very least we expect him to still be solving crimes in one of Los Angeles’ wealthiest zip codes with his Detroit attitude.
Judge Reinhold (Billy Rosewood)
When we first met Judge Reinhold’s Billy Rosewood in the original Beverly Hills Cop, he was a fresh police officer still learning the ropes – and Axel Foley ended up taking him under his wing. After that, Reinhold became the only actor other than Eddie Murphy to appear in all of the sequels, and he will be keeping that streak going with the return of Billy in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. It’s been a minute since we last saw the Fast Times At Ridgemont High star in a movie, as his most recent credits were back in 2017, so it will be exciting to see him again playing one of his most beloved roles.
Bronson Pinchot (Serge)
While he didn’t appear in Beverly Hills Cop II, Bronson Pinchot is considered a staple of the action franchise – starting with his standout one-scene role as Serge in the original. In Beverly Hills Cop III he pivoted from selling art to becoming the proprietor of Serge's Survival Boutique, a high end gun store… though we have no idea if he’ll be still running the shop in the 2020s. Pinchot was confirmed to appear in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley while the movie was in production in September 2022, though we don’t know what to expect from his role. In recent years, the actor -- who took up household restoration for a while -- has been primarily working on television, with a recurring role on Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina and appearances in episodes of Black Monday, NCIS: Hawai’i and The Mysterious Benedict Society.
Paul Reiser (Jeffrey Friedman)
Paul Reiser has been experiencing a nice career comeback in recent years, starting with his part as Dr. Sam Owens on the Stranger Things cast. Since 2017, his credits include The Kominsky Method, The Boys, Hulu's Reboot cast, and the revival of Mad About You… and now he’s set to bring back yet another memorable part. He’ll be reprising his role as Jeffrey Friedman in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley, playing the character for the first time since Beverly Hills Cop II in 1987. What has the character been up to in the last three-and-a-half decades? We have no idea – but we expect him to continue to be a loyal ally to Eddie Murphy’s titular cop.
John Ashton (John Taggart)
Introduced in the original Beverly Hills Cop, John Ashton’s John Taggart was introduced as a semi-antagonist: he’s a smart and talented detective, but doesn’t have much patience for Axel Foley’s antics. He ultimately learns to appreciate the protagonist for his drive and skills, and while he wasn’t part of the action in Beverly Hills Cop III, he’ll be back for the fun in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. It’s been a couple years since Ashton was in a movie, as his last credit was 2020’s Death In Texas with Bruce Dern, Stephen Lang, and Lara Flynn Boyle, but he was confirmed to be back to reprise his role as Taggart in Fall 2022.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (TBA)
Of course, the cast of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley isn’t solely comprised of stars from the original trilogy; there are a handful of other fresh faces included in the ensemble as well, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the last few years, Gordon-Levitt has primarily been working on the small screen, starring in AppleTV+’s Mr. Corman and Showtime’s Super Pumped, but notably the new Beverly Hills Cop will be the third movie he’s made for Netflix – following 2020’s Project Power and The Trial Of The Chicago 7. Sadly, there currently isn’t any information about his role in the action-comedy, but we know it has been "a treat" for the actor.
Taylour Paige (TBA)
Taylour Paige and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were the first two actors announced as part of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley opposite Eddie Murphy when the project was confirmed to be in the works in August 2022. Since her breakout role as the titular character in 2021’s Zola, Paige has been busy on both the big screen and the small, starring in Lena Dunham's Sharp Stick and Katie Aselton's Mack & Rita as well as six episodes of the TV series The Baxters. We presently have no clue what part she is playing in the new Beverly Hills Cop, but all signs at the very least point to her being the female lead.
Kevin Bacon (TBA)
Despite the fact that they have both been in Hollywood for multiple decades, Kevin Bacon and Eddie Murphy have never had the opportunity to work together before – but that all changes with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley. Bacon joined the cast of the Netflix-produced sequel in September 2022, though it has not been confirmed if he is going to be playing a protagonist or antagonist in the film. The actor has most recently been playing the lead role opposite Aldis Hodge in the Showtime series City On A Hill, but he also very recently joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a very special way: playing himself in James Gunn’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special.
Mark Pellegrino (TBA)
We know from The Daily Mail that another newcomer to the Beverly Hills Cop franchise appearing in the next film in an undisclosed role is Mark Pellegrino, who is probably best known for his recurring role amongst the Supernatural cast as Lucifer. The SAG Award nominee (for being a part of the ensemble for 2005's Capote) also gave Jeff Bridges a hard time as one of Jackie Treehorn's thugs in The Big Lebowski, starred in one of the best David Lynch movies (Mulholland Dr.), played a cop in Netflix's 13 Reasons Why cast, and more recently appeared on FX's Hulu exclusive crime drama, Class of '09.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley doesn’t have an official release date yet, but is expected to arrive in 2024 (so be sure to have your Netflix subscription up and running). For more about the Eddie Murphy movie, check out our Quick Things guide about Beverly Hills Cop 4.
