Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley Adds Kevin Bacon To The Cast
It remains to be seen if moviegoers are stoked for a return to the "Beverly Hills Cop" universe, but lots of big names are lining up to join Eddie Murphy onscreen for his first Axel Foley foray in 28 years.
According to Deadline, he latest star to sign on for "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley" is Kevin Bacon. Who's he playing? No clue. A by-the-book police chief who's heard of the Detroit detective's calamitous L.A. antics, and is determined to kick his streetsmart butt out of town? A slick, wealthy pillar of the community who's doing a little human trafficking on the side? Or maybe they'll borrow a twist from "Die Hard with a Vengeance," and make Bacon the revenge-seeking brother of Ellis DeWalt, the cop-killing antagonist from the universally beloved "Beverly Hills Cop III."
It's impossible to say because, at present, we know nothing about "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley" aside from the fact that it's being directed by advertising veteran Mark Malloy (who's making his feature filmmaking debut) from a screenplay by Will Beall (a former LAPD detective turned screenwriter best known for getting fired from "Justice League" and "Aquaman"), and co-stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour Paige, Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton (with the last four reprising their roles from the previous films). Beyond that, who knows what Eddie and company are up to?
Is it time for Axel Foley to cut loose?
Hopefully, "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley" is more than an uninspired nostalgia play, à la "Coming 2 America." That said, viewed through an '80s lens, bringing the Baconator on board is actually pretty inspired casting. Murphy might've been the king of 1984 with the initial "Beverly Hills Cop," but Bacon broke out in a big way in February of that year with his scorchingly hot portrayal of Ren McCormack in Herbert Ross' "Footloose."
That film, about a rebellious city kid determined to knock down a small town's anti-dancing ordinance, captured the zeitgeist in ways that couldn't have been planned. Somehow, the package of Bacon, Kenny Loggins (who recorded several hit songs for the soundtrack) and the mainstream breakdancing craze had everybody all hot-and-bothered about shaking their tail feathers. And, hey, maybe that's it! Perhaps Bacon's hot shot Ren graduated from high school, moved to Los Angeles, washed out as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and joined the force! It's a "Beverly Hills Cop" – "Footloose" crossover event!
We won't find out until 2023, which is when "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley" is due to premiere on Netflix.