Brett Ratner will direct Beverly Hills Cop 4

The long-awaited return of Axel Foley has taken a big step towards fruition, with Brett Ratner confirmed to be directing the fourth episode of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise.

Ratner has finally signed on the dotted line some five years after he was first approached to helm the project, with Jerry Bruckheimer also confirmed to produce the sequel.

This is just the latest twist and turn in an ongoing saga that had seen Eddie Murphy attempt to get the sequel made as a TV series, before finally returning to the big screen approach.

Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec are currently hard at work on a script, with Ratner set to begin work on the film as soon as he gets done with Hercules: The Thracian Wars .

Murphy will of course be reprising his starring role as Axel Foley, although no further casting has been revealed at this point. Expect the wheels to continue turning on this one over the next few months...

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.