It's been more than 20 years since Eddie Murphy cleaned up the streets as Axel Foley in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, but that may change somewhat soon with the impending arrival of Beverly Hills Cop 4. Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Black) were hired on last year to helm Beverly Hills Cop 4 and development on the project has been slow but sure. Now, the directors have their sights set on a couple of huge stars to possibly star alongside Eddie Murphy in the form of Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy.

As reported by JoBlo, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were recently speaking about Beverly Hills Cop 4 on a talk show in Holland called The World Turns. During the chat, they revealed that they want a big name to work alongside Eddie Murphy in the long-awaited sequel. They specifically name-dropped both Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy. However, it sounds like those are just names they are interested in and haven't actually had any conversations with either actor about taking on the part.

The idea is that Tatum or Hardy, or whoever this actor ultimately winds up being, will play a new cop in Detroit who winds up clashing with Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley. That would essentially flip the script from the original Beverly Hills Cop movies, where Foley was the hot, young cop shaking things up. Reportedly, the directors want to film most of the movie in Detroit for a budget of around $50 million. The main thing is getting the script together, which has proved to be problematic.

Eddie Murphy needs to be on board for Beverly Hills Cop 4 to work and he hasn't been particularly excited about the scripts that have come his way over the years. At one point, Brett Ratner was attached to do the movie, but the project ultimately fell apart. There was also a pilot for a Beverly Hills Cop TV series shot in 2013, which centered on Axel Foley's son and featured a small cameo from Eddie Murphy. The show didn't wind up getting picked up, partially because Murphy was hesitant to commit to doing a recurring role on TV.

Beverly Hills Cop is considered a classic and was an absolute box office smash, bringing in $316 million worldwide. Which is even more impressive when you consider that was back in 1984. Beverly Hills Cop II did well and was fine, but Beverly Hills Cop III looked like it pretty much killed the franchise. But it's been quite some time and Eddie Murphy is due for a comeback. As of right now, the movie does not have a firm release date, so there's no real pressure to get the sequel moving until the right combination of people and events move into place.

Maybe with the help of a huge star like Channing Tatum or Tom Hardy, if they can somehow get one of them to sign on the dotted line, Beverly Hills Cop 4 can finally get off the ground.