While Eddie Murphy rose to prominence in the mid-1980s with his comedic performances, he faced major competition from one of the industry’s greatest action heroes, Sylvester Stallone. Although Murphy and Stallone worked on completely different genres, the latter retaliated against the SNL member for the Beverly Hills Cop franchise.
Apparently, the buddy-cop comedy movie Beverly Hills Cop initially chose Sylvester Stallone to play the role of Axel Foley. However, due to his interference with the script and desire to increase the budget, Stallone was replaced by Eddie Murphy. But years later, the Rambo star retaliated with his own $160M movie involving a similar character to that of Axel Foley.
Sylvester Stallone Was The Initial Choice For Beverly Hills Cop
While Eddie Murphy struggled to find prominence in the entertainment industry during the early 1980s, Sylvester Stallone was already an established actor, following his appearance in Rambo and Rocky. Thus, Stallone always came as the initial choice for most movies. Much like he was chosen for the role of Axel Foley in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise.
Although the lead role in the franchise was later played by Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone was among the early contenders who bagged the role in 1984. After becoming a household name due to his impressive skills in penning down the Rocky script in 3 days, Stallone was selected as producers expected him to ride the Beverly Hills Cop franchise to its success.
However, the process didn’t seem as smooth as the directors and producers expected it to be with Sylvester Stallone in the house. Evidently, the action hero, with his previous experience as an accomplished scriptwriter, interfered a lot with the comedy movie script. Willing to transform the comedy film into a violent picture to fit the role better due to his hard-earned reputation as an action hero, Stallone seemingly exceeded the budget of the movie.
Sylvester Stallone Retaliated With His Own $160M Movie
Although Sylvester Stallone excelled among his competitors during the audition and bagged the role of Axel Foley, his interference with the script and production budget led him to lose his part. While the actor tried to take away the comedic essence of the film, and drastically turn it into an action-packed movie, his contract was terminated.
Despite previously appearing in big-budget movies and earning his world-class reputation, Sylvester Stallone lost his chance to appear as Axel Foley. Evidently, Stallone even wished to change his character’s name to Axel Cobretti, for he believed there was more weightage to Cobretti than Foley when it comes to action sequences.
Nonetheless, since the actor was terminated from the project and was replaced by Eddie Murphy, Sylvester Stallone retaliated with his own $160M movie. Taking inspiration from all the changes he proposed in Beverly Hills Cop, Stallone delivered his 1986 action-packed movie Cobra. Apparently, in Cobra, Stallone starred as the lead character Lieutenant Cobretti, whose name was inspired by his suggestion, Axel Cobretti.