Why Eddie Murphy considered his own 1994 blockbuster the weakest of the franchise

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Beverly Hills Cop III was a box office underperformer that critics panned and its star, Eddie Murphy, openly disliked. While the film featured high-profile cameos and a massive theme park setting, it lacked the magic of its predecessors. Murphy later admitted he felt the movie was soft and lacked stakes.

Released in 1994, Beverly Hills Cop III marked a significant shift in tone for the franchise. The production was plagued by budgetary disputes, leading to the departure of long-time producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. With a budget that ballooned from an initial $55 million estimate to over $70 million, the film struggled to find its footing. Director John Landis noted that Murphy, who received a $15 million paycheck, appeared to be consciously moving away from the wisecracking persona that defined the earlier films, opting for a more serious, mature portrayal of detective Axel Foley.

The film's narrative, which centered on a counterfeiting ring at a theme park called WonderWorld, was criticized for failing to connect with audiences. Murphy later reflected that the movie lacked the personal stakes found in the first two entries. In the original film, Foley’s best friend is murdered, and in the sequel, his friend Captain Bogomil is shot. In the third installment, while his boss Inspector G. Douglas Todd is killed, the plot’s focus shifts toward the plight of a secondary character, Uncle Dave. This disconnect, combined with the absence of John Ashton’s character, Sergeant John Taggart, left the film feeling hollow to both the star and his audience.

Critical reception was overwhelmingly negative, with the film holding an 11% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 16 out of 100 on Metacritic. Reviewers described the performance as joyless and the script as uninspired. Despite the film's poor performance, it remains a notable case study in how a high-budget sequel can struggle when it loses the creative chemistry and character dynamics that made the original series a success. Murphy eventually cited his desire to rectify the legacy of the third film as a primary motivation for returning to the character in the 2024 sequel, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

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