‘Speed’ Was Once Pitched as ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ Sequel: ‘It Was a Final Hail Mary’
Samantha Bergeson
The “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise almost steered “Speed” away from audiences.
The Eddie Murphy comedy-action vehicle was once briefly on the brink of taking over the “Speed” script before Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock were attached to star, according to former Paramount vice president of production Don Granger.
During Kris Tapley’s latest episode of the “50 MPH” podcast, which offers a comprehensive oral history of “Speed,” Granger revealed that stalled negotiations for “Speed” led him to pitch the screenplay as a “Beverly Hills Cop III” script.
“I really wanted to try to mount the movie, and my last-ditch effort was … I pitched it at our chairman’s lunch as a possible script for ‘Beverly Hills Cop III,'” Granger said. “I got about 15 minutes of traction before it was dismissed, because that was back when the mandate was to find a ‘Beverly Hill Cop III.’ So I was like, ‘Let’s put Axel Foley on the bus.’ It was a Hail Mary, man.”
Granger continued, “I might maintain it was a better movie, it would have been a better movie than ultimately what we got for ‘Beverly Hills Cop III,’ but that was my final Hail Mary.”
“Speed,” of course, became a 20th Century Fox 1994 blockbuster directed by Jan de Bont. The film spurred 1997 sequel “Speed 2: Cruise Control,” which Bullock admitted last year that she is “still embarrassed” about. “I’ve been very vocal about it. Makes no sense. Slow boat. Slowly going towards an island,” Bullock said. “That’s one I wished I hadn’t done and no fans came around, that I know of.”
“Speed” star Reeves famously turned down the sequel, despite the original film’s box office success and Oscar wins for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Reeves later revealed he was put in “movie jail” by 20th Century Fox for exiting the film. Jason Patric instead starred opposite Bullock as her new love interest.
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