Eddie Murphy was convinced to make Beverly Hills Cop return by Jerry Bruckheimer

Eddie Murphy has revealed that Jerry Bruckheimer's involvement convinced him to return for 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley'.

The 61-year-old star is reprising his role as Foley in the long-awaited fourth 'Beverly Hills Cop' film and said that the chance to collaborate with Bruckheimer - who has produced blockbusters such as 'Top Gun' - again was a key factor in him returning to the franchise.

Asked how he was convinced to make another film, Eddie told Collider: "Jerry Bruckheimer, the original producer. When he got involved, and he started developing the script, and he knew what 'Beverly Hills Cop' was supposed to be.

"When he got back involved, that's when it all started to come together. Because we tried for years and years, maybe 10, 12 years, and I must have read five or six different scripts, and it was never right. The studio was like, 'Let's go. Here it is.' It was like, 'It's just not it.'"

The 'Nutty Professor' star continued: "Jerry Bruckheimer got back in there, and he knows his s***, and he put it together. He did ('Top Gun: Maverick') just last year, and 'Bad Boys' is Jerry Bruckheimer.

"So we have that same brain behind 'Beverly Hills Cop', and he put all the pieces in place that were required for us to make a great movie. And I'm excited for people to see it."

Eddie admits that the stunts he performed during the shoot have taken their toll on his body and contrasted the experience to the original film in 1984.

He explained: "I'm not 21. It was a long time ago, and it's a really physical movie. And then I had to do some physical stuff. I know Tom Cruise likes to do physical stuff but I like to be on the couch.

"I don't like to be jumping over, and shooting, and running, and I had to do some jumping and shooting and running, and as a result, had a knee brace at the end of the movie. I had a knee brace, and my back is messed up, and all that. But the movie is going to be special."