WTF Happened to Beverly Hills Cop III?

After decades in development, Beverly Hills Cop 4, which is officially titled Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley, is finally in production. Netflix is setting this up to be one of their big blockbusters for 2023, which is only fitting considering that the first Beverly Hills Cop was the biggest movie of 1984 (beating Ghostbusters at the box office), while Beverly Hills Cop II was another major hit, ranking in the top 3 movies of 1987. But what about Beverly Hills Cop III? Not only was that movie not a box office hit, but it effectively ended the franchise for nearly thirty years. It was so bad that many thought it was the final nail in the coffin of Eddie Murphy’s career, only for the star to rebound in a big way two years later with The Nutty Professor.

So WTF Happened to Beverly Hills Cop III? Plenty, with the behind-the-scenes shakeup radically changing the tone of what then had been a slick, action-packed series of urban action flicks/comedies. Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were no longer involved, and with them went the smooth action movie sheen, with John Landis the unlikely choice to direct the third instalment, which would be set at a DisneyWorld knockoff called Wonder World. By the time an orchestral version of the Axel F Theme started, audiences knew they were in trouble. The film tanked brutally, beaten by The Flintstones at the memorial day 1995 box office.

In this episode of WTF Happened to this Movie, written by Brad Hamerly, narrated by Mathew Plale and edited by Kier Gomes, we go into everything that went awry with this franchise killing misfire.

Do you think Beverly Hills Cop III is as bad as its reputation suggests? Let us know in the comments!