Beverly Hills Cop II
(1987)
R | 102 mins | Comedy-drama | 20 May 1987
Director:
Tony ScottWriters:
Larry Ferguson, Warren Skaaren, Eddie Murphy, Robert D. WachsProducers:
Don Simpson, Jerry BruckheimerCinematographer:
Jeffrey L. KimballEditors:
Billy Weber, Chris Lebenzon, Michael TronickProduction Designer:
Ken DavisProduction Companies:
Paramount PicturesBeverly Hills Cop II is the sequel to 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop (see entry). Actor Eddie Murphy returned as “Axel Foley,” the Detroit, MI, cop who comes to Beverly Hills, CA, to help solve a crime. Also returning as Beverly Hills policemen were Judge Reinhold as “Billy Rosewood,” Ronny Cox as “Andrew Bogomil,” and John Ashton as “John Taggart,” while Gil Hill and Paul Reiser returned as Detroit cops “Inspector Todd” and “Jeffrey Friedman.”
Murphy was not contractually obligated to do a sequel, but was eager to do so nonetheless. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer told the Spring 1987 American Premiere magazine that Murphy and his manager, Bob Wachs, came up with the basic story idea and approached them.
When director Tony Scott, who had just completed Top Gun (1986, see entry), heard a sequel was in the works, he told Simpson and Bruckheimer, who had produced Top Gun, that he was anxious to work with Murphy and asked that they consider him. When the producers took the director to meet the actor, the two got along well and Murphy approved him.
Although actor Dennis Hopper was offered the role of villain “Maxwell Dent,” he turned it down, the 25 Nov 1986 HR stated. The role went to actor Jurgen Prochnow instead.
Publicity materials in AMPAS library files listed a start date of 5 Nov 1986, although several production charts suggested that filming did not begin until five days later. More than twenty-five locations in Southern California were used, including Hollywood Park racetrack, which doubled for the Empyrean Fields ...
Beverly Hills Cop II is the sequel to 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop (see entry). Actor Eddie Murphy returned as “Axel Foley,” the Detroit, MI, cop who comes to Beverly Hills, CA, to help solve a crime. Also returning as Beverly Hills policemen were Judge Reinhold as “Billy Rosewood,” Ronny Cox as “Andrew Bogomil,” and John Ashton as “John Taggart,” while Gil Hill and Paul Reiser returned as Detroit cops “Inspector Todd” and “Jeffrey Friedman.”
Murphy was not contractually obligated to do a sequel, but was eager to do so nonetheless. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer told the Spring 1987 American Premiere magazine that Murphy and his manager, Bob Wachs, came up with the basic story idea and approached them.
When director Tony Scott, who had just completed Top Gun (1986, see entry), heard a sequel was in the works, he told Simpson and Bruckheimer, who had produced Top Gun, that he was anxious to work with Murphy and asked that they consider him. When the producers took the director to meet the actor, the two got along well and Murphy approved him.
Although actor Dennis Hopper was offered the role of villain “Maxwell Dent,” he turned it down, the 25 Nov 1986 HR stated. The role went to actor Jurgen Prochnow instead.
Publicity materials in AMPAS library files listed a start date of 5 Nov 1986, although several production charts suggested that filming did not begin until five days later. More than twenty-five locations in Southern California were used, including Hollywood Park racetrack, which doubled for the Empyrean Fields racetrack, the Max Factor building, and the Roosevelt Hotel Cinegrill. The film also shot for two days at the Playboy Mansion, one of the first times the house had ever allowed filming on its premises. A second-unit team filmed establishing shots in Detroit, MI.
Although initially budgeted at $27 million, the 4 Jun 1987 NYT reported the film finished at $31 million, some $4 million over budget, when chase sequences and other scenes took longer than expected. Director Tony Scott denied rumors that Murphy sometimes did not show up on shooting days, but did admit Murphy was occasionally late for his call time, as reported by the 10 Apr 1987 Long Beach Press-Telegram. Eddie Murphy’s salary was $8 million, plus an undisclosed percentage of the gross, the 17 Mar 1986 People magazine reported. An additional $4 million went to his production company.
The film wrapped in late Mar 1987, but pick-up shots were scheduled for the first week of Apr 1987, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported. Although films typically spend four to six months in post-production before being released, director Tony Scott only had six weeks to edit it, saying he expected to complete it on 18 May, two days before its opening.
Beverly Hills Cop II opened on 2,326 screens on Wednesday, 20 May 1987, and took in $4,206,144 its opening day, according to the 22 May 1987 DV. Its first weekend set many box-office records: The 27 May 1987 HR reported that the film had the biggest single day, with $9,724,037; and the largest three-day weekend to date, with $26,348,555. After three months in theaters, the movie had grossed $146.7 million.
Writing credits for the film brought litigation. Onscreen, the story idea is credited to Eddie Murphy and Robert D. Wachs and the screenplay is credited to Larry Ferguson and Warren Skaaren. However, Ferguson wanted sole credit for the screenplay and filed a lawsuit against the Writers Guild of America (WGA) in Los Angeles Superior Court to overturn its ruling that he share the credit, the 21 May 1987 DV reported. Ferguson claimed that Murphy offered no input into the story, Wachs’ input was minimal, and Skaaren’s involvement was limited to rewriting about a third of the script. Ferguson also criticized the WGA arbitration process, which was “cloaked in confidentiality” that made due process difficult, the 16 Jun 1987 DV reported. The 13 Jul 1987 DV noted that this was only the third lawsuit ever filed against the WGA regarding writing credits--the first time was a 1955 case that was tossed out of court, while the second was regarding the authorship of The Sicilian (1987, see entry).
In Jul 1987, a judge allowed writers Edwin (Bud) Shrake and Dan Jenkins to join Ferguson’s lawsuit against the WGA. At a Nov 1987 hearing, a judge ruled that the shared credit for Ferguson and Skaaren should remain, but that the WGA should hold a new arbitration hearing regarding writing credits for Shrake and Jenkins, the 12 Nov 1987 DV reported. Ferguson filed a motion for reconsideration, but it was denied.
The WGA appealed that ruling and in Jan 1991, an appeals court overturned the lower court’s decision, thereby upholding the guild’s original credit ruling. The appeals court said it had no authority to “second-guess” the WGA’s determination of writer credits, the 21 Jan 1991 DV reported.
In the interview with American Premiere magazine, conducted in Apr 1987, prior to the filing of the initial lawsuit, producers Simpson and Bruckheimer said the script was continually being rewritten while filming was underway as Eddie Murphy would improvise on set in ways that would affect later scenes in the script. They also stated that while Larry Ferguson wrote the original screenplay, he was not involved with rewrites during shooting as he was busy writing The Presidio (1988, see entry). Ferguson did return in time to write a new scene, which was shot just as filming wrapped. Simpson and Bruckheimer also stated that writer Dennis Klein was a “primary contributor” to the script and helped with many of the rewrites as did Warren Skaaren. The pair did not mention Bud Shrake or Dan Jenkins in their interview. The 29 Nov 1986 LAHExam reported that writer David Giler was also doing rewrites while the film shot.
End credits state: “The Producers wish to thank: The City of Detroit; The Detroit Police Department; Tandem Computers Incorporated; Optical Eyeglasses; Detroit Armour Corp.; and Playboy Enterprises, Inc. for allowing location filming at Playboy Mansion West. Playboy Playmates: Ola Ray, Alana Soares, Venice Kong, Luann Lee, Rebecca Ferratti, Kymberly Paige, Kymberly Herrin; Playboy Models: Leilani Soares, Anne Lammot, Pamela Santini, Sarah Quick, Marlenne Kingsland, Monet Swann, Natalie Smith, Kari Whitman.”
In Detroit, Michigan, police detective Axel Foley is working an undercover case involving illegal credit cards, but drops the case and flies to Beverly Hills, California, when he hears that his friend and fishing buddy, Captain Andrew Bogomil of the Beverly Hills Police Department, was shot twice in the chest while helping a resident having car trouble. Bogomil is in critical condition and Axel intends to help them find the shooter. Bogomil and his men, Detective Billy Rosewood and Sergeant John Taggart, were working on the “Alphabet Crimes,” a series of high-end store robberies where the thieves left behind monogrammed envelopes with coded messages. Just before Bogomil’s shooting, recently-appointed Police Chief Harold Lutz suspended Bogomil for allowing Rosewood to call in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help in decoding the messages without his permission. Lutz believes it is a local case and does not want Federal interference. Axel teams with Rosewood and Taggart, happy to be reunited with the friends he made the last time he was in Beverly Hills. Examining the evidence, Axel notices unusual bullets were used in the Alphabet Crimes and goes to the Beverly Hills Shooting Club to talk to Russ Fielding, an expert on ammunition. Fielding tells Axel nothing, but admits to his boss, Maxwell Dent, the owner of the club, that he made the bullets specifically for club manager Charles “Chip” Cain. Dent, the mastermind behind the Alphabet Crimes, believes the robberies were perfectly planned, but poorly executed. Dent orders Cain to kill Axel. Axel looks through Andrew Bogomil’s files for clues about the case. Seeing several notations about the 385 North restaurant, Axel goes to the posh eatery pretending that ...
In Detroit, Michigan, police detective Axel Foley is working an undercover case involving illegal credit cards, but drops the case and flies to Beverly Hills, California, when he hears that his friend and fishing buddy, Captain Andrew Bogomil of the Beverly Hills Police Department, was shot twice in the chest while helping a resident having car trouble. Bogomil is in critical condition and Axel intends to help them find the shooter. Bogomil and his men, Detective Billy Rosewood and Sergeant John Taggart, were working on the “Alphabet Crimes,” a series of high-end store robberies where the thieves left behind monogrammed envelopes with coded messages. Just before Bogomil’s shooting, recently-appointed Police Chief Harold Lutz suspended Bogomil for allowing Rosewood to call in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help in decoding the messages without his permission. Lutz believes it is a local case and does not want Federal interference. Axel teams with Rosewood and Taggart, happy to be reunited with the friends he made the last time he was in Beverly Hills. Examining the evidence, Axel notices unusual bullets were used in the Alphabet Crimes and goes to the Beverly Hills Shooting Club to talk to Russ Fielding, an expert on ammunition. Fielding tells Axel nothing, but admits to his boss, Maxwell Dent, the owner of the club, that he made the bullets specifically for club manager Charles “Chip” Cain. Dent, the mastermind behind the Alphabet Crimes, believes the robberies were perfectly planned, but poorly executed. Dent orders Cain to kill Axel. Axel looks through Andrew Bogomil’s files for clues about the case. Seeing several notations about the 385 North restaurant, Axel goes to the posh eatery pretending that John Taggart is former President Gerald Ford and that he and Billy Rosewood are his Secret Service detail. They learn that Nikos Thomopolis, the biggest arms dealer on the West Coast, is the owner of 385 North. However, as they leave the restaurant, someone in a car shoots at them. Axel, Rosewood, and Taggart fire back, but the car drives away at high speed. The car crashes a few blocks away but the driver flees on foot. Police Chief Lutz berates Taggart and Rosewood for being there and assigns them to traffic duty as punishment. Axel tells Lutz that he is with a multi-jurisdiction federal task force on organized crime and to call his boss in Detroit, Inspector Todd, for verification. Axel telephones his colleague in Detroit, Detective Jeffrey Friedman, asking him to intercept Lutz’s call to Inspector Todd and cover for him, which Friedman gladly does since Axel is letting him drive the Ferrari sports car Axel is using as part of his undercover investigation. Axel, Rosewood and Taggart find Chip Cain’s fingerprint on a matchbook left in the wrecked car. They break into the Beverly Hills Shooting Club and find in Cain’s desk map coordinates that correspond to the City Depository, a Federal Reserve Bank. The next morning, Karla Fry, Maxwell Dent’s girl friend and main henchwoman, leads a group of thieves robbing the City Depository. Axel, Rosewood, and Taggart rush to the Depository and set off an alarm. Fry and the thieves escape in an armored truck with the money. Rosewood confiscates a cement mixer and gives chase, but the armored truck eludes them. Rosewood and Axel find the truck abandoned and the money gone. However, they notice tire tracks in the mud and follow the tracks to the Playboy Mansion. Axel claims he is the pool cleaner to gain access to the mansion, adding that Taggart and Rosewood are with the board of health. A charity fundraiser is underway on the grounds, but Axel confronts Maxwell Dent nonetheless. When Playboy owner Hugh Hefner arrives, Axel tells Hefner that his guest, Nikos Thomopolis, is a gunrunner and that Dent kills cops for a living. Axel goes to see Dent’s accountant, Sidney Bernstein, claiming he is there to collect unpaid parking tickets. While Rosewood and Taggart distract Bernstein, Axel checks the accountant’s computer and sees that Dent and Karla Fry are scheduled to fly to Costa Rica that day. Dent is also shipping a large amount of oilfield equipment to Costa Rica. Axel telephones Andrew Bogomil’s daughter, Jan, who works at an insurance agency. Jan tells him that Maxwell Dent is in financial trouble and has let the insurance policies lapse on all his properties except for his racetrack, Empyrean Fields. Axel decodes a message from the Alphabet Bandit that implies that Chip Cain is the culprit. However, Axel says the coded message was much easier to decipher than the previous messages and suspects Dent deliberately sent a message that could be easily deciphered in order to throw police off his trail. Chip Cain, Karla Fry, and a several other of Dent’s men disguise themselves as robbers and break into the Empyrean Fields racetrack’s betting office. However, once they have all the money, Karla Fry shoots Cain in the head, killing him, while the others make their escape. Mayor Ted Egan proclaims that Chip Cain was behind the Alphabet Crimes and is confident there will be no more robberies. As Axel looks around the racetrack, he notices it is beside an oil field which Dent owns. Axel, Taggart and Rosewood sneak onto the oil field and observe Dent and Nikos Thomopolis doing a deal. Axel realizes that Dent has been masterminding the robberies to get money to buy firearms from Thomopolis. Dent can make more money selling guns in Central America than he can selling oil or anything else. Axel, Rosewood and Taggart break into one of the trucks and find crates of guns and ammunition. Rosewood accidently launches a grenade which hits another truck filled with ammunition and explodes into a fireball. Police arrive and arrest everyone. Axel goes into a warehouse searching for Maxwell Dent, who escapes him. Dent drives toward Axel at high speed, intending to run him down, but Axel shoots him in the head, killing him. Dent’s car crashes over a cliff and explodes. Karla Fry is about to shoot Axel, when Taggart shoots and kills her. Police Chief Lutz is upset that Taggart and Rosewood are there and fires them. However, Mayor Ted Egan is tired of Lutz’s attitude and fires Lutz instead. A few days later, Andrew Bogomil is released from the hospital and promoted to police chief. Ted Egan telephones Inspector Todd in Detroit to thank him for letting Axel come to Beverly Hills to help solve the case. However, when Axel returns to Detroit, he is distressed to learn that his friend Jeffrey has wrecked the Ferrari.
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