Eddie Murphy dead? Then who’s hawking Beverly Hills Cop TV series?
If Eddie Murphy were dead – according to online rumors Murphy died (again) in a snowboarding accident in Switzerland – he would not be planning to turn his “classic” (between quotes) 1984 comedy Beverly Hills Cop into a television show. Vulture reports that Murphy, The Shield creator Shawn Ryan, and Sony Pictures Television will be joining forces to bring the fish-out-of-water cop Axel Foley – and/or his son and/or a cop buddy – to the small screen.
In addition to acting as the show’s executive producer, Murphy will apparently also act as an actor on the pilot and make special appearances on the show. Who is going to be cast as the Son of Beverly Hills Cop and his buddy remain a mystery.
We’ll soon find out if Murphy will be luckier on the small screen than he has been on the big one (A Thousand Words, Tower Heist). Another Eddie Murphy venture that didn’t pan out was his Academy Awards hosting gig, following the departure of Oscarcast co-producer Brett Ratner.
Eddie Murphy dead?
People can’t be that stupid. Or perhaps they can. This “Eddie Murphy Dead” hoax has been around for several years. Murphy and other celebrities – Adam Sandler, Rihanna, Benito Mussolini – are killed on a daily basis on websites whose owners know exactly what to do to get search-engine-friendly linkbacks.
Summing it up: Eddie Murphy ain’t dead. Beverly Hills Cop 4, however, is. And that’s not such a bad thing.
Directed by Tony Scott, Beverly Hills Cop was one of the biggest blockbusters of the ’80s. The two sequels weren’t as popular as the original, and received mostly negative reviews.
Eddie Murphy Beverly Hills Cop Alex Foley image: Paramount Pictures.
Michael Douglas: Ronald Reagan in ‘Reykjavik’
Michael Douglas, Best Actor Academy Award winner for Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, will play Ronald Reagan (playing the role of U.S. president) in the independently made Reykjavik. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire‘s Mike Newell is currently “in talks” to direct Reykjavik, at one point a possible Ridley Scott property. Scott will now co-produce the film from a screenplay by Kevin Hood (the TV movie Man and Boy, Becoming Jane).
As per the Reporter, “Reykjavik takes place over a few days in 1986, when Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for talks in the Icelandic capital to iron out peace against the backdrop of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.”
The producers haven’t found their Gorbachev yet. But perhaps Clint Eastwood is available? It should be interesting to watch a Liberal playing a right-winger and a right-winger playing a Communist leader. Now, seriously, how about Guy Marchand?
Participant Media movies
A $10 million production by way of Participant Media (formerly known as Participant Productions), Reykjavik is scheduled to start shooting in March in Germany. Previous Participant collaborations include George Clooney’s Oscar-nominated Good Night, and Good Luck., Davis Guggenheim’s Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation, and Mike Nichols’ box office disappointment Charlie Wilson’s War, starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Michael Douglas’ other upcoming movie
Michael Douglas will soon be seen opposite Matt Damon in Behind the Candelabra. In the television movie, Douglas plays Liberace; Damon is his lover, Scott Thorson. Also in the cast: Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd, Debbie Reynolds, Cheyenne Jackson, Scott Bakula, Boyd Holbrook, and Nicky Katt.
The Master trailer with Joaquin Phoenix.‘The Master’ trailer HD: More questions than answers
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master is one of the most anticipated movies of 2012. In fact, here’s wondering if any Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Akira Kurosawa, or Sergei Eisenstein film has ever been as eagerly awaited. Why all the fuss? Well, you can check out The Master HD trailer below. (Please scroll down to check out the trailer. Photo: Joaquin Phoenix The Master.)
Anderson, among whose previous efforts are Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love, and There Will Be Blood, based The Master‘s narrative on Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Set in the aftermath of World War II, The Master‘s basic plot follows a drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) who becomes the right-hand man of the leader (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of a burgeoning school of thought. Conflicts arise between the two men as the “school of thought” is turned into a full-fledged religion, followed by countless ardent believers.
Notable for being shot in 70mm, The Master will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September. Later on, it’ll be screened at the Toronto Film Festival.
‘The Master’: Awards season entry
The Oscar-savvy Weinstein Company will release Paul Thomas Anderson’s psychological drama on Sept. 14 in North America. In addition to Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master features Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Ambyr Childers, Jesse Plemons, Lena Endre, Rami Malek, Madisen Beaty, and veteran Patty McCormack (the Oscar-nominated murderous little girl in Mervyn LeRoy’s 1956 thriller The Bad Seed).
I should also mention that on The Master Wikipedia page, you’ll find lots of praise for the film – and not a single criticism. Note that, as so often happens on that site, many of the comments are unsourced.
So, is Paul Thomas Anderson the Orson Welles of the early 21st century? Is The Master this century’s Citizen Kane? Is Lancaster Dodd / L. Ron Hubbard today’s equivalent to Charles Foster Kane / William Randolph Hearst?
Or is Lancaster Dodd just an homage to Burt Lancaster – and his phony preacher in Elmer Gantry?
Well, the trailer below doesn’t give you a good indication of what to expect. You gotta use your own imagination for that. Check it out.
Joaquin Phoenix The Master image: The Weinstein Company.