Just a couple weeks ago, we learned that Tropic Thunder and Percy Jackson and the Olympians star Brandon T. Jackson was up for leading the new Beverly Hills Cop TV series from The Shield and Chicago Code creator Shawn Ryan. Now the news is official.

Jackson - who recently went undercover with Martin Lawrence in Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son - will play Aaron Foley, son of Eddie Murphy's character Axel Foley from the film franchise of the same name. But fans of Murphy's Foley will be glad to hear that Murphy is still coming along for the ride.

TV Line says Jackson is signed for the pilot in development at CBS which also has Murphy working as a producer in addition to guest starring as Foley, now the Detroit chief of police. This comes after Murphy himself suggested Jackson for the role, beating out this writer's suggestion of Donald Glover.

The young actor's casting isn't surprising considering Brandon T. Jackson's career trajectory isn't much of a departure from Murphy's. The elder Foley started off on Saturday Night Live at age 20, and Jackson started getting meaty film roles in 2005 at age 21. And just like Murphy, Jackson also has a career in stand-up comedy. Jackson even attended the One Night Only tribute to Eddie Murphy airing on Spike TV tonight.

Brandon T. Jackson and Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold with 'Beverly Hills Cop' co-star Brandon T. Jackson

Having Murphy involved with the pilot should be enough to get executives keen on ordering a series, but that's only if he appears occasionally after the pilot. Otherwise, the hour-long crime procedural with buddy cop elements will have to be carried by Jackson and the rest of the cast, which has yet to be determined.

Will the Beverly Hills Cop name be enough to get viewers to tune in if a series is ordered? Jackson held his own with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder, but does he have the same charisma and presence as Murphy to win over an audience in a lead role? Hopefully, we'll have an answer to those questions next season if CBS decides to order the pilot to series.

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Source: TV Line