Axel Foley is coming home.
The latest installment of the 1984 classic “Beverly Hills Cop” will be filming in metro Detroit, the Michigan Film Office announced Thursday.
The new chapter of the franchise that helped make Eddie Murphy a box-office star has been approved for about $13.5 million in Michigan film incentives based on $56.5 million in anticipated spending in the state.
The project expects to hire approximately 352 Michigan workers, or a full-time equivalent of 318 jobs.
“Beverly Hills Cop 4” will return Murphy to his iconic role as Foley, the brash Detroit cop who brings his street smarts to Los Angeles in his search for a friend’s killer.
The movie will be directed by Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”) and produced by Detroit native Jerry Bruckheimer for Paramount Pictures.
Filming will take place in Detroit and nearby locales, although there’s no word yet on when shooting will start. The movie is slated to be released in March 2016.
When contacted a Paramount spokeswoman said there was no further comment at this time.
The new story line transplants Foley from his plush Beverly Hills life back to the Motor City during a severe cold snap. Back in Detroit, he’ll learn the new realities and encounter old foes in “one of America’s most tenacious cities,” according to an MFO statement.
The first “Beverly Hills Cop,” also produced by Bruckheimer, was a blockbuster hit in 1984 and led to two sequels, 1987’s “Beverly Hills Cop II” and 1994’s “Beverly Hills Cop III.” Worldwide gross for the franchise was roughly $735 million.
The original “Beverly Hills Cop” remains one of the films most identified with Detroit, even though the action moves to Los Angeles after the opening sequence and chase scene.
Former Detroit police commander and city council president Gil Hill appeared in all three installments as Foley’s police inspector boss.
The movie also made a nationwide fashion trend out of Mumford High athletic department T-shirts, thanks to Murphy wearing one on-screen.
And a Bob Seger song, “Shakedown,” fueled “Beverly Hills Cop II” while becoming the Detroit rocker’s only No. 1 hit.
The return of the franchise makes it the second largest project in the spotlight of the Michigan film incentives. “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” started production in metro Detroit last month.
By Julie Hinds
