Beverly Hills Police Officer fans, meet Shaqxel Foley! If anyone has ever wondered what the iconic film franchise would be like if the NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal won the role of Axel Foley instead Eddie Murphyyour questions have been answered.
On Friday, Netflix released the missing tape of O’Neal’s audition for the role of Axel Foley, in which the 52-year-old former athlete casts himself as Shaqxel Foley.
“This is perfect for Shaq, I love it Beverly Hills Police Officer,” O’Neal says in the “lost” footage.
And although O’Neal gives us his best ‘Shaq-tion’ poses, it’s clear there’s only one Axel Foley, and that’s Murphy.
Watch O’Neal’s lost audition tape for the role of Axel Foley below.
Fans eagerly waited Eddie Murphythe return to paper in the bedroom Beverly Hills Police Officer film, and they will get it when the Netflix sequel – titled Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F – premieres almost 30 years after the last chapter of the franchise.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F reunites Murphy with franchise co-stars Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot. It also welcomes stars Kevin Bacon, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Taylour Paige.
The film opens with Murphy’s Axel Foley and his estranged daughter, Jane (Paige), a criminal defense lawyer who implicates her Detroit-based father in a case in California. After their daughter’s life is threatened, Jane and Foley team up with their new partner, Det. Bobby Abbott (Gordon-Levitt) and old friends Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) turn up the heat and uncover a conspiracy.
Kevin Bacon also stars as Captain Grant, with Pinchot reprising his role as Serge and Reiser returning as Det. Jeffrey Friedman.
A Previous trailer highlights Foley’s return to a “changed” Beverly Hills. But none of that stops the veteran cop from pulling off his classic moves, which include operating (and crashing) a stolen helicopter and using unorthodox practices while undercover.
“You’re pissing off a lot of people,” a detective told Foley, to which he responded, “That means we’re getting close.”
Mark Molloy directs the sequel from a script written by Will Beall. Murphy also produces, along with super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Charisse Hewitt-Webster and Ray Angelic will executive produce the new film, while Melissa Reid of Jerry Bruckheimer Films will serve as co-producer. The project moved from Paramount, which had been developing the film for years, to Netflix in 2019.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F premieres July 3 on Netflix.
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