Fans of old-school Eddie Murphy, one of the greatest stand-ups of all time, may have something to get excited about – because for the first time in over 10 years he has decided to return to that which made him a household name, that which made him great: R-rated comedies. And the comedy he has chosen will be The Misadventures of Fluffy for Paramount.

Wait. What? Nevermind, everyone can sit back down. Really? The Misadventures of Fluffy? I hate even writing that title, let alone watching it. C’mon Eddie, what are you doing? Last thing we heard was that Eddie Murphy had backed out of starring in the Richard Pryor bio-pic and now we’ve got this? He’s picking Fluffy over Richard Pryor.

Now, before everyone decides to chase after him with pitchforks (ala Frankenstein), it should be known that as of right now he’s not starring in this film, but he is definitely producing it. Although, if Murphy’s career decisions continue the way they’ve gone for almost a decade, he’s probably going to star in this as well.

Maybe I’m being too hard on our favorite Detroit police officer. Let’s check out the description of the movie.

“A road trip pic through New York featuring talking animals, and with an element of social comedy reminiscent of Murphy’s 1980’s hit Trading Places.”

Nope, not being too hard on him. At all.

So, it’s Trading Places meets Doctor Dolittle? How on earth could that fail?

I’ve heard this theory being thrown about for some time about Eddie Murphy and all those horrible movies he puts out. The theory goes that the reason why studios keep giving Eddie Murphy money to make horrible movies that make no money is that when he decides to make a film like The Nutty Professor or Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (nine years ago) that it more than makes up for the money previously wasted.

While I’m not one to believe such things and find it hard to believe that any high grossing movie could make up for the amount of money Murphy has blown on The Adventures of Pluto Nash or Meet Dave (and no, Shrek doesn’t count).

Still, there may be some merit as Paramount is the studio bringing us The Misadventures of Fluffy and guess who’s also behind Beverly Hills Cop IV (if it ever gets made)? That’s right, Paramount.

What do you think? Will it be excited to see an R-rated Murphy in a talking dog comedy? Does him producing it mean anything at all? Can anyone name the year that there was a real Eddie Murphy film?

And finally…

If Eddie Murphy all of a sudden decided to return to stand-up comedy, who would instantly run out to buy tickets?

(Hand raised)

Exactly.

The Misadventures of Fluffy has yet to receive a release date, but Shrek Forever After comes out in 2010.

Source: THR via Collider

• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Eddie Murphy To Play Richard Pryor
• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Marlon Wayans Replaces Eddie Murphy in Richard Pryor Biopic
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• Cillian Murphy Drops ‘Inception’ Hints [Updated]

This past weekend, Brett Ratner gave hope to fans of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise while speaking at an Advertising Week event focused on “consumer attention in a media-saturated world.”

While discussing how to one can organically integrate brands into films, Ratner nonchalantly noted that Beverly Hills Cop IV is “a huge priority for Paramount.”

How does Beverly Hills Cop come up during a speech on organic brand integration? Well, Ratner used Beverly Hills Cop as an example for his theory on product placement. He stated that in the film, Axel (Eddie Murphy) will need to drive a car (spoilers! :sarcasm:) and that currently the standard process would be to make a deal with an automaker to use their car(s) and then making them fit into the film. (cough – Transformers – cough)

Alternatively, Ratner’s focus will be, “What are my needs for the story? What car do I need that can become a character in the movie?” Only after the appropriate vehicle is chosen will they then approach the corresponding automaker.

Whilst I extremely doubt that whatever car is eventually chosen for Axel in Beverly Hills Cop IV will achieve the same fame as Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, or the Delorean from Back to the Future in the eyes of the audience, I have to admit that Ratner’s philosophy holds merit. Although, he then goes on to talk about how a pop bottle must “be a character in a story” or the audience will block it out as just another prop. Still, he’s coming from a good place.

While I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of Ratner, I’m not completely dissuaded by his involvement in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. I long for the return of days of old in which Eddie Murphy was regarded as a comedy icon and not the voice of Donkey who makes horrible direct-to-DVD movies in between Shrek sequels. If Ratner is the man to help this happen… than so be it.

My only caveat… Judge Reinhold has to be in Beverly Hills Cop IV and not die (as in previous versions of the script).

Is Beverly Hills Cop IV as much of a priority to you as it is to Paramount? Can Eddie Murphy ever truly return to his comedy roots or our we stuck with “Daddy Day Murphy?”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter [via: The Playlist]

• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Eddie Murphy’s Return To R-Rated Comedy To Be ‘Fluffy?’
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• ‘Paul Blart’ Director Helming Short Circuit Remake
• Another Comic-Con Contest: Ghostbusters Is Hiring
• Brett Ratner Wants Robert Pattinson In Youngblood

There are a few movies I can always count on to pass the time. One of them is Beverly Hills Cop. No matter how many times I watch that movie, I always find myself smiling. Maybe it’s just because I get to hear Eddie Murphy use the F-word – something he seems to have forgotten how to do in his recent trend of family-friendly films.

Given my proclivity toward Axel Foley, I’ve closely followed news about the upcoming sequel to the series, Beverly Hills Cop 4. Recently, Clint Morris at Moviehole had the opportunity to speak with one of the screenwriters of the film, Derek Haas (Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma).

While the interview didn’t reveal much in the way of plot details, Hass did reveal his desire to tie the film to the original Beverly Hills Cop, as well as his efforts to write a strong character-driven story:

“I think you have to focus on the protagonist and set up a conflict based on or suggested by the first movie. You don’t sacrifice character just for bigger action or more special effects. You always start with character and say, “what does he want at the beginning of the film?” Then just tell a great story that doesn’t snub what came before it but builds on it.’’

This is but a small snippet of Moviehole’s interview with Derek Haas. To read the full interview – in which Haas discusses the various scripts for Beverly Hills Cop 4 that have floated around Hollywood over the years, or how you go about writing a script for Mr. Murphy – you can do so by going here.

While early reviews of the Beverly Hills Cop 4 script have been mixed, I’m hopeful that this could be a decent movie. After so many years of producing family fare, it will be nice to see Eddie Murphy get back to the kind of wise-cracking adult-oriented comedy that made him famous.

Is anyone else excited to see Axel Foley back in action?

The release date for Beverly Hills Cop 4 is still pending.

SOURCE: Moviehole

• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Eddie Murphy’s Return To R-Rated Comedy To Be ‘Fluffy?’
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• ‘Paul Blart’ Director Helming Short Circuit Remake
• Terminator Salvation Details; Schwarzenegger Cameo In Doubt
• Movie News Wrap Up: June 14, 2009

Brett Ratner, the man behind all three Rush Hour movies, as well as X-Men 3: United (comic book fans… attack!), has a lot of potential projects up in the air at the moment. Those listed as upcoming for him are either not happening at all or are nowhere near getting going. However, according to the man himself, the film closest to actually being made is one called Trump Heist, which would see him returning to the type of action/crime-comedy of the Rush Hour movies.

Penned by Ocean’s Eleven writer Ted Griffin, the film tells the story of a bunch of employees at Trump Tower who plan together to rip-off some of the mega-rich residents of the building. The only cast member officially signed on thus far is Eddie Murphy as the leader of the crew, but Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Ratner regular Chris Tucker (I know… shocking!) are reportedly in consideration/negotiations to join the cast.

On top of that, Ratner also revealed details about some of the projects his name has been attached to: Brazilian music documentary Carnivale 3D was offered to him years ago (by Quincy Jones, no less) but he says he was never involved in any way with it, his Blue Blood TV pilot was never picked up, and the rumor about him making a Guitar Hero movie turns out to have only been precisely that… a rumor.

Lastly, on more high profile projects, Ratner also revealed that for Conan, “We’re just budgeting the script and trying to figure out when’s a good time and where to shoot it. It’s kind of a global landscape.” And on directing Beverly Hills Cop 4, he said, “I don’t know. I’m developing the script.”

Ratner is a director that made comic book and movie fans extremely angry, sometimes to the point of craziness, on message boards and blog comments sections, because of what he did with the third X-Men movie. Although I don’t share the flaming angry passion that some do, I can nonetheless totally understand some of the grievances some people had.

However, no matter what Ratner may have done to certain projects in the past, he ain’t the worst director in the world, not even close. He did a pretty decent job with the first two Rush Hour movies (although he seriously nuked the fridge with the third one); no, they’re nothing great, but they’re at least entertaining, if throwaway, pieces of cinematic entertainment.

I have mixed feelings about this Trump Heist movie – on the one hand I like the sound of the idea, and the bringing together of such a cast for an action/crime-comedy like this. But at the same time I’m not quite sure how it would turn out – it has the potential to work very well and be much fun, or it could all go pear shaped and just not work.

It could go either way, I just hope it goes the right one…

Do you like the sound of Trump Heist? Or are you a self-confessed impassioned Brett Ratner hater, and thus will avoid/hate anything he puts his hand to?

Source: /Film

• Conan Update: Ratner Out, McTeigue In?
• Brett Ratner Wants To Be On The Comic Book Movie A-List
• Brett Ratner Wants Robert Pattinson In Youngblood
• Will Brett Ratner Return To The Marvel Universe?
• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Mark Millar Defends Writer Hired For ‘Wanted 2′

We all know that Brett Ratner is attached to direct Beverly Hills Cop 4, and that Eddie Murphy will be reprising his trademark role of Axel Foley.

For a few years there were rumors that the film would show the adventures of Foley in London, but I’m guessing that the filmmakers realized that the character is from Detroit and that he solves crimes in Beverly Hills, so he would just be London Cop. And that is a whole other franchise.

Well, now Latino Review have seen a script  by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas for the new film and according to them –  it’s not too good.

[SOME PLOT SPOILERS FOLLOW]

If this script is used, then film will begin with Foley’s friend Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) throwing himself off a building. However, Axel knows that this is something that Billy just would not do. Returning to Beverly Hills for the first time in years, Axel decides to track down Billy’s killers who turn out to be corrupt cops.

[END SPOILERS]

While Latino Review states that the film comes across as very 1980’s, they feel that the Axel Foley character is far removed from the fun loving cop that kicked ass 20 years ago. Apparently Foley has no funny lines (not unlike any other Eddie Murphy film in recent memory) and that the “comedy relief” comes from a limo driver. Not only that, but for an action comedy the film is very light on action. Aren’t Murphy’s comedies these days very light on comedy too? I see a pattern…

It doesn’t sound too promising. The studio is apparently in love with the script, but Murphy isn’t too happy. If it doesn’t please Murphy then I can’t imagine this being the draft to make it to the big screen. However, was he really happy with Meet Dave’s script? Or Pluto Nash? Or…

Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure that Beverly Hills Cop 4 will chug along in development hell for quite some time before it makes to a cinema near you.

Source: Latino Review

• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Eddie Murphy’s Return To R-Rated Comedy To Be ‘Fluffy?’
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• ‘Paul Blart’ Director Helming Short Circuit Remake
• Eddie Murphy To Play Richard Pryor

It’s that time of the week again – Mid Week Movie News Wrap Up.

This week

It looks like Brett Ratner may have some issues when it comes to directing Conan; Samuel L. Jackson and Jim Caviezel are Blown; DiCaprio talks Akira; we have more news on Simon Pegg’s Paul and Ennio Morricone is a Basterd!

1. Earlier in the week it looked like like Brett Ratner would indeed be helming the Conan, reboot/ remake/ re-imagining/ adaptation for Millennium Films. Seems like someone, somewhere jumped the broadsword.

The LA Times spoke with the films producer Avi Lerner and the potential director and both said that Ratner’s involvement was far from secure.

Lerner said:

“We still have a few obstacles. Brett is only committed if we agree on a budget, on how to do the special effects and exactly where we’d shoot the film.”

Meanwhile Ratner was a little less enthusiastic:

“Let me make this very clear, I am not doing Conan now. This is totally premature. For now, ‘Conan’ is only a development deal. I have a deal at Paramount and I’m doing Beverly Hills Cop first, no matter what. Avi shouldn’t be telling you or anyone else in the press what I’m doing.”

Ouch. That does not sound like a good moviemaking partnership to me.

At least Eddie Murphy will be happy.

Source: The LA Times

2. Jim Caviezel and Samuel L. Jackson will star in Blown, a London based action thriller.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The film centers on Will Matlock (Caviezel), a top MI5 operative whose routine investigation of a global corporation leads him to discover an imminent terrorist attack. Jackson will play Julian Lezard, the businessman who engages him in a high-stakes game of wits and deception.”

I’m quite a fan of old Jimbo. He did star as the world’s most famous carpenter after all. The next two are Harrison Ford, and John Carpenter!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Leonardo Dicpario’s production company Apian Way is developing a film based on Anime classic Akira. It appeared that the Titanic star would be a shoe-in for a role. Not so, says the actor.

DiCaprio said:

“We’re waiting for the final draft of the script. I’m a big fan of Japanese anime – that and another project called Ninja Scroll we’re trying to get developed and made into a movie, and I know there a lot of loyal fans out there of the project and die-hard fans, so we’re going to try to do the best job we possibly can and we’re not going to make the movie until the script is in the right shape.”

Source: Splash Page

4. Star Trek’s Scotty Simon Pegg’s next film - Paul has a few more details courtesy of Variety. Apparently the film (which is to be directed by Superbad’s Greg Mottola) will be about :

“Two British slackers who after visiting Comic-Con go on a road trip to Area 51 where they encounter a small alien named Paul, who enlists them to help him find his way home.”

I don’t know about this, it sounds quite generic, and I feel that I’ve seen it before.

Source: Variety

5. Legendary composer Ennio Morricone will allegedly compose the score for Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming Inglorious Basterds.

Pretty cool news, but I have to say that I’m more excited about seeing Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables.

Source: Tarantino Info

That’s it for now. See you at the movies!

• Iron Man Screenwriters Working on Akira Movie
• Live-Action ‘Akira’ Movie Is Dead
• Conan Update: Ratner Out, McTeigue In?
• What Inglourious Music Will The Basterds Be Put To?
• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Sam Jackson To Return As Nick Fury – Over & Over Again

It was rumored, but many didn’t want to believe it. Now if Ain’t It Cool can be believed it’s fact.

He’s one of the most divisive directors in the fanboy community, and famous for his multiple attachments to possible projects that never see the light of day.

However it now looks like Brett Ratner will be directing Conan!

Moriarty (aka Drew Mc Weeny) got an email from a scooper who apparently made a very persuasive case to suggest that Mr. Ratner would indeed be helming the new Conan film for Lionsgate.

This news broke last month at Dread Central, but considering that Ratner’s name is attached to almost every film in development (and some which are not) it looked like a false alarm. Conan has been in development now for about a decade with everyone from John Milius to The Wachowskis attached to the project as it moved from Warners to Lionsgate. To put the film’s gestation period into perspective – Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the frame to star at one point!

Nothing is officially official yet, so take this with a pinch of salt. Ratner is supposed to be directing Beverly Hills Cop 4 for Paramount, a film which is being fast tracked (as is Conan) so it’ll interesting to see which one pops first.

Conan has no cast attached yet – so it would appear that Cop has the advantage because they already know that Eddie Murphy is up for more Axel Foley, but it’s going to a bit more difficult finding a new Conan. How many musclemen out there can act, and I don’t mean in the wrestling way?

Will Ratner direct Conan?

Who knows, but at least it sounds like we might see Conan this decade.

Source: AICN

• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Marcus Nispel To Direct Conan
• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• Who Will Direct Conan?
• Conan Update: Ratner Out, McTeigue In?

As it stands, Hollywood studios are deadlocked in their contract negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild. That news stirs up foul memories of a year ago, when the Writers Guild of America was at a similar juncture with the studios… Soon after that there were no TV shows for about half a year.

And we all know what that did last year’s TV season.

In anticipation of the worst (which has ironically become the norm in these days and times), studios are turning to the pre-strike protocols they devised after the 2007 WGA strike, pushing as many films as they can into production so that the 2010-2011 movie roster doesn’t end up barren.

Check out the studio by studio list of the films that are either currently in production, or are headed into production in light of the looming strike.

The list of movies being fast-tracked are as follows:

COLUMBIA

• Ruben Fleischer-directed “Zombieland”
• Phillip Noyce-helmed “Edwin A. Salt” with Angelina Jolie
• Stephen Chow-directed “The Green Hornet” with Seth Rogen

DISNEY

• Tim Burton-directed “Alice in Wonderland”;
• “Tron” sequel;
• Robert Zemeckis-produced motion-capture film “Mars Needs Moms”;
• Jon Turteltaub-directed “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” with Nicolas Cage;
• Walt Becker- helmed “Wild Hogs 2″

FOX

• James Cameron-directed “Avatar”
• Shawn Levy-helmed “Date Night,” with Steve Carell and Tina Fey
• “A-Team”
• “Ramona”
• Chris Columbus-directed “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”
• “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
• John Carney-directed “Town House”
• “Alvin and the Chipmunks 2″
• Tom Bezucha-directed “Orbit”
• Rick Famuyiwa-helmed “Family Wedding”

MGM

• Drew Goddard-directed “The Cabin in the Woods”
• Kevin Tancharoen-helmed “Fame”
• “The Matarese Circle,” which David Cronenberg is negotiating to direct Washington
• Darren Aronofsky-helmed “RoboCop”

MARVEL
(Paramount distributing)

• Jon Favreau-directed “Iron Man 2″ with Robert Downey Jr.
• Kenneth Branagh-helmed “Thor”

MIRAMAX

• John Madden-directed “The Debt” with Helen Mirren
• “Man on a Train”
• “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”

NEW LINE

• “Torrente”
• “Sex and the City 2″
• Wesley Strick-directed “A Nightmare on Elm Street”
• Len Wiseman-helmed “Gears of War”

PARAMOUNT

• Kenny Ortega-directed “Footloose” with Zac Efron;
• M. Night Shyamalan-helmed “The Last Airbender”
• “Morning Glory”
• “Beverly Hills Cop”
• “Us and Them”

UNIVERSAL

• Edgar Wright-directed “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” starring Michael Cera
• Untitled Nancy Meyers-helmed comedy with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin
• Peter Billingsley-directed “Couples Retreat” with Vince Vaughn;
• Gore Verbinski-helmed “BioShock”
• Nicholas Stoller-directed “Get Him to the Greek”
• Ridley Scott-helmed “Nottingham” with Russell Crowe

WARNER BROS.

• Clint Eastwood-directed “Human Factor” with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon
• Mark Neveldine/Brian Taylor- helmed “Jonah Hex”
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” the David Yates-directed final, two-part installment in the franchise, which begins production in February;
• Alcon-financed “Book of Eli,” the Hughes brothers-directed Denzel Washington starrer
• Louis Leterrier-helmed “Clash of the Titans”
• Zack Snyder-directed “Suckerpunch.”

Not to worry, Summer movie enthusiasts: just about all of your big budget sequels (Transformers 2, Night at the Museum 2, Angels & Demons) are safely in production. Doomsday epic 2012 is also going to make the cut. Any other new films that studios hope to get off the ground, however, are going to face major problems without actors to act in them. But we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. For now, negotiations continue.

Personally I’m glad Iron Man 2, Thor, Green Hornet and Avatar made the cut; I’m hoping that Bioshock and Gears of War will be worthy of their excellent video game sources–and I’m praying that Jonah Hex is going to turn out well. Hex was badass on that Batman: The Animated Series episode.

How about you? Any movies you’re glad are in the pipeline? Any films you wish they’d kept on the shelf?

(Thank Variety for putting the list together.)

• Bioshock Movie May Have A New Director
• Gore Verbinski Trades Pirates For ‘Bioshock’
• BioShock Movie On Hold – What’s Verbinski To Do?
• Green Hornet & Tron Legacy Fight For Release Date
• Nic Cage Passes On Green Hornet Villain Role
• Matthew Vaughn Wants to Direct The Avengers

As we all know, Hollywood is the epicenter of not only fads, but also ripping off copying what works from other studios. We’ve all seen this before many times. One studio puts out a successful movie in some genre and within 6-9 months we see a bunch of movies coming out trying to capitalize on the popularity of the first one.

This phenomenon really took off in the early 1980s, with movies like Star Wars launching a new era in Sci-Fi films (yes, I know Star Wars was released prior to 1980), Superman starting the superhero movie trend, Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street giving us the wonderful teen horror genre (at least they were rated R back then). Rambo started the lone hero with enemies that were lousy shots and couldn’t kill him even with machine guns and Porky’s gave us the start of the raunchy high school comedy.

So I suppose it was only appropriate, and a matter of time before Hollywood, bereft of new ideas, decided to re-visit those old gold mines to search for a fresh vein to tap. But now we’re not doing remakes any more… oh no – now the big buzzword is: Reboot.

The first recent film to tackle this concept (and succeed) was Batman Begins in 2005. Warner Bros. took a once successful franchise that had been ruined utterly and completely by descending into tongue in cheek, replete with nipples on the Bat-Suit. As we all know, director Chris Nolan exceeded everyone’s expectations and cleansed our palates of the abomination that was foisted upon us by Joel Schumacher.

Warner Bros. followed this success with Superman Returns, which while it was profitable, was a disappointment to many, and didn’t really “reboot” the franchise. It seems like the next Superman film may actually try to do that (again). We also had the rejuvenation of the James Bond franchise with Casino Royale, which gave us Daniel Craig as the closest thing to the early days of the series and Sean Connery.

The Incredible Hulk reboot didn’t go as well as planned for a variety of reasons including poor marketing and internal conflicts.

So now that the studios have seen that it’s possible to do a reboot well (as opposed to recent failures like Planet of the Apes and The Pink Panther), the reboot trend is moving full steam ahead. Interestingly, the main target for source material seems to the very same era I mentioned above: the 1980s (give or take a couple of years).

Now technically some of the projects haven’t been reboots – a similar trend that’s emerging is to create an additional sequel to a movie franchise that ended 20 years ago. An example of this was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – which while successful, was not as huge a hit as Paramount had been hoping for. The fact that the term “Nuke the fridge” has entered the vernacular has more than a little to do with it, I’m quite sure.

On the “delayed” sequel front we also had Bruce Willis returning as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard (aka Die Hard 4). While that was controversial due to dropping the rating from the usual R to a PG-13, it did well at the box office and was fairly well-received. We also had not one but two Sylvester Stallone sequels: Rambo and Rocky Balboa, both of which kicked butt IMHO.

Projects ready to hit the screen next year include J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek and McG’s Terminator 4. Other “dust off the concept” movies that are in the works include Child’s Play, Hellraiser, Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop 4.

So this got me thinking… what movie reboots/delayed sequel possibilities are out there that haven’t been tapped yet? Now I’m not saying this is a good idea – I’m just saying that I’m betting there are “scriptments” floating around Hollywood for these well-known franchises.

Whether they get made before this trend runs out, I don’t know – but if they DO, you heard it here first.

Here’s the list, in no particular order:

1. Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Here’s the movie that made both Burt Reynolds and Sally Field stars and beloved by the public. Just a fun, against the establishment, redneck fun movie.

Logic: Are you kidding me? With Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice-Presidential pick and the whole Liberal vs Conservative angst, the timing for a new version of this couldn’t be better!

2. Crocodile Dundee (1986)

This is the movie that made Aussie Paul Hogan a star. With his low key charm and self-confidence, he became and instant audience favorite. It spawned a sequel which wasn’t bad, but in 2001 they did a third movie which was a stinker.

Logic: Someone needs to make a casting trip to Australia to find a new Dundee – shouldn’t be too difficult… Australia seems to have a good supply of “manly men.”

3. Home Alone (1990)

The original starring Macaulay Culkin and directed by Chris Columbus is a classic. There was one sequel and a failed attempt at a reboot back in 1997.

Logic: It’s been 11 years since the last one, so you know that someone out there thinks “if we could only find the right child actor” they could make a go of this one again.

4. Back to the Future (1985)

Another beloved series, which starred Michael J. Fox and was directed by Robert Zemeckis. While the first two were great, the third left a bit to be desired.

Logic: Yes, this one should remain untouched, but it’s got a brand name, was a big hit for its time and I can just see some new spin on this (no doubt with characters that are annoying instead of endearing).

5. Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

Having been pretty nerdy myself at the time this originally came out, I thought it was hysterical. As usual, the sequels got progressively weaker.

Logic: You could almost argue that with the unending string of teen comedies, this is unnecessary. Well, yeah, it IS unnecessary – but remember we have a known title plus lazy screenwriters (no, not ALL of them, but we know they’re out there).

6. Rambo (1982)

Logic: Considering the fact that we just had a sequel, maybe some bright-eyed exec will think it’s time to re-cast this with a younger actor. Instead of a Vietnam vet I’m sure they’d be happy to use a black-ops Iraq war veteran as the hero.

7. Porky’s (1982)

If memory serves, this was the first really raunchy high school comedy (yeah, we had Animal House but that was college, big difference, right? RIGHT?).

Logic: See #5.

8. Mad Max (1980)

Mad Max was a little film that gave us the first big screen appearance of Mel Gibson (dubbed horribly with an American voice). Immediate cult classic -spawned two sequels, one good, one not so much.

Logic: You could almost argue that a reboot has been attempted already with this year’s clunker Doomsday. But it’s not really a reboot unless they use the original title.

9. Rocky (1976)

Logic: Similar to #6, Rambo and the same logic applies.

10. Lethal Weapon (1987)

The original team-up of Mel Gibson as the manic cop and Danny Glover was awesome. Again, each subsequent film was not as good as the one before.

Logic: While there have been many “buddy cop” movies since this one, again we have the “Lethal Weapon” brand name. Definitely reboot material – PLEASE do not bring Glover and Gibson back for this.

So what do you think – do you have any that should be added to the list, or ideas for how any of these should play out?

Thanks to DenOfGeek for sparking some ideas.

• Chris Nolan On Batman 3: Worth the Wait?
• It’s Official: No Lethal Weapon 5
• Remakes And Sequels: Have We Reached Overload Yet?
• Star Trek Sequel Talk & Some Awesome Concept Art
• Will Star Trek 2 Go Where No One Has Gone Before?
• Could Mel Gibson Be Involved In Mad Max 4 After-all?

Earlier this summer, Paramount Pictures officially announced Beverly Hills Cop 4 would grace the silver screen. This despite the fact that they had yet to hire screenwriters and didn’t even have a story in place. They only had Eddie Murphy signed on to return and Brett Ratner was “in negotiations” to direct.

Cut to a few months later, and we now  have screenwriters, ladies and germs!

Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (i.e. the screenwriting duo behind 3:10 to Yuma and Wanted) have been officially hired after submitting an outline/treatment that was given the thumbs up by studio big-wigs, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Ratner and Murphy himself.

I guess this takes Brandt and Haas out of Wanted 2 despite earlier reports.

Beverly Hills Cop 4 will begin filming next year for a Summer 2010 release.

Source: Variety

• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
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Word is circulating that after Beverly Cop 4 hits theaters, actor/comedian Eddie Murphy may be done with films for good. Along with that bit of good news, came confirmation from Beverly Hills Cop 4 director Brett Ratner that the film will NOT be rated PG-13 as previously reported, but will indeed carry a very hard R rating, for all those action junkies who need the wet stuff to mess the silver screen before they can get their kicks. (Also known as Rambo Syndrome.) According to Ratner:

“Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Believe me, this is going to be a hard core ‘R’ Beverly Hills Cop. I start shooting next year…”

Now, a few Pluto Nash fans out there (or perhaps that one Norbit fan) might wonder why I see Eddie Murphy’s sudden retirement as a good thing. (Really? You have to wonder? Cuz Meet Dave sure sounds like a death knell if I’ve ever heard one.) And besides, Norbit fan, you should always try to remember: when a door closes, a window gets opened. Check out a recent statement from Murphy during an interview with entertainment news show Extra:

“I have close to fifty movies and it’s like, why am I in the movies? I’ve done that part now. I’ll go back to the stage and do standup.”

So basically, after Eddie Murphy rakes in a last exorbitant payday with Beverly Hills Cop 4, you never have to watch another installment of The Nutty Professor. And in exchange, you’ll potentially get another Delirious or Raw comedy special you can spend the next two decades busting a gut over. Sound like a fair trade?

Unless Murphy’s standup ends up following the same trend as his film career: from edgy and, well, RAW, dulled down to family friendly. But let’s not even think like that, all negative and such. Let’s be positive. Only a few more shameful outings at the box office, (the “Untitled Eddie Murphy/Romeo and Juliet Project” on IMDB kind of scares me,) and after that, we all just might get back the Eddie Murphy we loved best. Ah, if only to hear that laugh again…

As for Beverly Hills Cop 4? Well, at least it’ll be violent (and offer some potential nudity.) Beyond that, DO NOT GET YOUR HOPES UP. After BHC3, I can’t even see how you could.

Are you eager to see this sequel, or should Eddie Murphy start making Friday night reservations at the Apollo Theater again? Hit us back and let us know.

Source: Jo Blo, Latino Review

• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Eddie Murphy’s Return To R-Rated Comedy To Be ‘Fluffy?’
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• Eddie Murphy To Play Richard Pryor
• ‘Paul Blart’ Director Helming Short Circuit Remake

Less than a week ago we talked about the impending addition to the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, which was to once again star Eddie Murphy and will be directed by the much-maligned Brett Ratner.

Personally, I’m not a Ratner hater, but this news is going to be like throwing bloody fish bait into a shark tank for those who do:

It seems that Beverly Hills Cop 4 is being targeted to kids. Specifically, 10-12 year olds.

Says Ratner:

“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.”

If you’re not familiar with the existing films (the first two of which were pretty damned funny and action-packed), they were R-rated, violent, F-bomb laced extravaganzas – back in the days before Eddie Murphy became “family friendly” and still made movies that were funny as hell. I applaud Murphy’s motives: After becoming a father he wanted to make only movies that his kids could watch. The problem is that for the most part those movies have been awful.

From Ratner’s quote I can’t imagine that he’s planning on making an R-rated movie and encouraging parents to bring the kids. I also can’t see him retaining ANY of the spirit of the original and making this PG… so they must be aiming for that magical and ever-popular PG-13 rating.

The only positive I can think of is that Live Free or Die Hard still managed to be pretty fun even with the PG-13. Of course that doesn’t really have any direct bearing on this movie… so I don’t even know why I mentioned it.

For more details head over to MTV at the link below.

Source: MTV

• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Eddie Murphy’s Return To R-Rated Comedy To Be ‘Fluffy?’
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• Conan Update: Ratner Out, McTeigue In?
• ‘Paul Blart’ Director Helming Short Circuit Remake

Over the past couple of years we have seen the return of John McClane, Rocky Balboa, John Rambo and Indiana Jones.

Now get ready for the return of Axel Foley.

Yes – Eddie Murphy is set to return to the franchise with Beverly Hills Cop 4.

So who would direct the fourth film in the series and follow in the footsteps of Martin Brest, Tony Scott and John Landis?

Well, fanboy favorite Brett Ratner of course.

There have been rumors of a fourth Axel Foley adventure floating about for years, the main idea being having it set in London. This is strange considering that the Foley character is actually from Detroit and the first three films were set in Beverly Hills. Would that make the film London Cop?

Ratner is in negotiations to direct the film, but no writer has yet been hired or possible plot mentioned. However they do intend to start production in 2009 for a 2010 release.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce the film, however Jerry Bruckheimer (producer of the first two films) will not be involved, he and then partner Don Simpson dropped out of the mediocre third film over a financial dispute.

I know quite a few people detest Ratner’s work, but I think he’s a pretty solid director. While X-Men 3 might have been flawed, the blame does not lie at Ratner’s door – he was tasked with coming in at the eleventh hour and making the movie under an insanely short schedule. If you need to see Ratner at his best – check out the Pierce Brosnan starrer After the Sunset.

I’m a sentimental kind of guy, so I like these fan favorites returning to the big screen. I just hope that it’s Murphy circa 1985 rather than the soulless family entertainer that we’ve been seeing for the past 15 odd years.

I’m sure that this will cause quite a bit of discussion, but it might just mean that I’ll see an Eddie Murphy film in the cinema for the first time since… Beverly Hills Cop III in 1994. Now that makes me feel old!

Thoughts, Ladies and Gents?

Source: Moviehole

• Beverly Hills Cop IV ‘A Huge Priority’ For Paramount
• Interview With Beverly Hills Cop 4 Screenwriter
• Next For Brett Ratner: A New Action-Comedy?
• Eddie Murphy’s Return To R-Rated Comedy To Be ‘Fluffy?’
• Conan Update: Ratner Out, McTeigue In?
• Will Brett Ratner Return To The Marvel Universe?