So Eddie Murphy is going to parlay his Dreamgirls capital into… Beverly Hills Cop IV? That’s what various outlets are reporting. While that’s surely good news for Judge Reinhold and possibly even John Ashton, is the public really clamoring for a return to a character that last fizzled in 1994, in a bloated vehicle under the direction of John Landis?

Well, maybe, maybe not. Having already seen Sylvester Stallone’s quite solid Rocky Balboa, I have to go on record as saying that there is the potential for redemption in autumnal years sequels, and sometimes plugging back into a role that helped make their career can recharge an actor’s batteries batteries and reconnect them with what they love(d) about acting, and us about their performance. But the Beverly Hills Cop movies were never as roundly about audience identification as something like the Rocky flicks; they were amusement park rides, and if there’s not some iota or glimpse of growth for Murphy’s Axel Foley, it could be a tired and quite bad idea.

That said, Paramount is hoping that bringing in veteran producer Lorenzo de Bonaventura will breathe some life into the franchise. A fall 2007 shoot looks likely, with a release the following summer being most likely — 24 years after the original.