Eddie Murphy’s ‘Beverly Hills Cop 4′ Moving Forward

Cue up your recording of "Axel F" — Crazy Frog or otherwise — and resurrected Judge Reinhold, because Eddie Murphy’s Axel Foley is ready to return to the beat.

According to Variety, Murphy and Paramount Pictures are anxious to have "Beverly Hills Cop 4" in production by next year with a summer 2010 release date in the cards.

Of course, to be fair, Variety reported this exact same story back in the fall of 2006 when Murphy was generating Oscar buzz for his work in "Dreamgirls" and before "Norbit" was even a glint in moviegoers’ eyes. At the time, the studio was eager to get back in the fish-out-of-water-cop business because of Murphy’s rejuvenated career. Now the studio is stoked by the early returns for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

There are few very minor updates in the reheated Variety story, though. The most exciting news — if you loved "Rush Hour 3" at least — is that Brett Ratner is reportedly in negotiations to direct.

Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the first two films with the late Don Simpson, won’t be involved with the fourth film. Lorenzo di Bonaventura will, however, return.

While the first two "Beverly Hills Cop" films, released in 1984 and 1987, made more than $600 million worldwide, the third entry, released to critical disinterest (or worse) in 1994, limped to slightly more than $40 million domestically.

Before "BHC4" hits theaters, though, you’ll be able to see Murphy in "Meet Dave" and "NowhereLand." He’ll also have to shoot the comedy "A Thousand Words."