Why Eddie Murphy Almost Wasn't Cast In Beverly Hills Cop

screenrant.com:

Though one of his most iconic roles to date, Eddie Murphy nearly wasn't cast for Beverly Hills Cop and producer Jerry Bruckheimer is sharing insight into why. Murphy starred in the buddy cop comedy as Axel Foley, a Detroit Police Detective whose best friend is murdered after taking German bearer bonds from art gallery owner Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills. Axel heads to the California town to investigate his friend's murder, discovering Maitland's criminal activities and trying to convince the Beverly Hills police to help him bring Maitland to justice.

Alongside Murphy, the cast for Beverly Hills Cop included Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox, Lisa Eilbacher, Steven Berkoff, Paul Reiser and Jonathan Banks. Helmed by Midnight Run's Martin Brest, the film scored rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, with both the film and Murphy earning Golden Globe nominations and springboarding the actor to international stardom. Beverly Hills Cop was also a box office smash, grossing over $234 million at the domestic box office.

Related: Coming To America vs Beverly Hills Cop: Which Eddie Murphy Films Are Better

While appearing on GQ's Iconic Films series, Jerry Bruckheimer looked back on the development of Beverly Hills Cop. The legendary producer revealed Paramount Pictures initially didn't want to cast Eddie Murphy due to a deal with Sylvester Stallone though later had a bigger financial concern of casting the comedian in the lead. See what Bruckheimer explained below:

«We had a good script, Marty worked on the script, and we’d sent it to Eddie Murphy and Paramount said, ‘No, we want to give it to Stallone.’ Sylvester Stallone had a deal with Paramount, it was called ‘Pay and Play,’ so they had to pay him by a certain