Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has done more than his fair share of movies over the years. The actor has delivered some fun moments for moviegoers, from his face-off with Vin Diesel in Fast Five to his musical and humorous turn in Moana (which he had to convince his daughter of). But in his spare time, he also enjoys taking in a good film like many of us. This was clear when he checked out the Beverly Hills Cop flicks and, no big deal, took the time to shout out Eddie Murphy for his work.
Fans of NBC’s Young Rock are more than likely aware that Dwayne Johnson is a child of the ‘80s and greatly indulged in the pop culture of the time. So it’s no surprise that he’d want to revisit one of the biggest film franchises of that decade. In a Twitter post, Johnson mentioned that he had the first two Beverly Hills Cop installments playing while he was doing “homework.” Check out the post down below:
Been doing housework all afternoon and have Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2 on in the background. I forgot, what a brilliant franchise! 👏🏾👏🏾Eddie Murphy = biggest star in the world at that time and crazy likable. (still massive iconic OG movie star today). Reinhold, Ashton & Rieser ⭐️s pic.twitter.com/PY06NDGbzLMay 21, 2022
Eddie Murphy was indeed one of the biggest celebrities of the 1980s, as he quickly became a superstar through his work on Saturday Night Live. From there, he starred in his first feature film, 48 Hrs., in 1982 and followed that up with 1983’s Trading Places, with both becoming successes. But it was arguably the first Cop movie that solidified his position as a big-screen staple.
Beverly Hills Cop, directed by Martin (who’d go on to direct features like Midnight Run), hit theaters in December 1984. The action comedy saw Eddie Murphy play the role of street-savvy, yet reckless, police officer Axel Foley. After his visiting friend is killed, the young cop travels from his native Detroit to Beverly Hills to solve the murder. While there, he teams up with local cops, played by Judge Reinhold and John Ashton, and excitement and hilarity ensue. The movie was a critical and financial hit, spawning the 1987 sequel and a 1994 threequel (which was poorly received by fans and critics alike).
Still, the franchise as a whole was successful, and The Rock can certainly appreciate it. One has to wonder if he viewed the Coming to America star’s career as something to aspire to during his formative years. If that was the case, then I’d say that he more than succeeded. He’s starred in established franchises like Fast and the Furious and Jumanji as well as his own original IPs such as San Andreas and Red Notice. And now, he’s finally set to make his big-screen debut as Black Adam.
As for Eddie Murphy and the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, the long-awaited fourth installment is finally moving forward. The project experienced a behind-the-scenes shakeup in April when Mark Malloy boarded as director. A release window has yet to be announced, though it’s been confirmed that the movie will be available to watch with a Netflix subscription. And based on his enthusiastic social media post, I think it’s a safe bet that Dwayne Johnson will be one of the many to check out the film when it drops.
Both The Rock and Eddie Murphy have upcoming movies that will arrive by the end of the year. And if you’re feeling nostalgic, you can stream the Beverly Hills Cop movies with a Hulu subscription.