Movies
Stallone could have starred in ‘Beverly Hills Cop’, but his discarded version became ‘Cobra’
One of the first versions of ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ starring Stallone was much more violent than the one we know and had no comedy at all. This was the basis for ‘Cobra’ (1986).
That Sylvester Stallone is one of the great icons of modern action movies is no secret. This titan of the genre was on the verge of taking over one of his most iconic roles from Eddie Murphy: that of Axel Foley in ‘Beverly Hills Cop’. As it happened, Stallone was the first choice of those in charge, but they didn’t like his rewriting of the script to the detriment of comedy in favor of action, so they fired him and hired Murphy. But Stallone did not leave empty-handed: the rewritten script became one of his biggest box office hits: ‘Cobra’ (1986).
‘Cobra’ was born out of a scrapped version of ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ starring Stallone
The ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ (1984) we all know today would have been radically different had Sylvester Stallone not been fired and Eddie Murphy hired. The project was conceived as a cop action movie with a comedy edge, and Paramount’s first choice was Stallone.
However, Stallone, knowing that his strength was in action movies and with the power to rewrite the script, turned the film into an action movie that adhered to the conventions of the genre, without any comedy. There were objections from producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and these objections turned into arguments and a constant give-and-take with Stallone. The actor and screenwriter’s suggestions meant that not only would the movie be very violent and far from the original concept, but it would also be considerably more expensive than planned.
Seeing that Stallone wouldn’t budge, Simpson and Bruckheimer decided to fire him and instead hire Eddie Murphy, a comedy actor who had already proven his skills in previous productions like ‘48 Hrs. (1982) and ‘Trading Places’ (1983). This was the right decision, as ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ became one of the highest-grossing films of the 80′s, earning $234 million from a budget of $13 million. It received very positive reviews, was nominated for Golden Globes and Oscars and received three sequels in 1987, 1994, and 2024.
On the other hand, Stallone didn’t leave with one hand behind and one hand in front. His drastically altered screenplay for ‘Beverly Hills Cop’, partly based on Paula Gosling’s novel ‘Fair Game’, was reworked into ‘Cobra’ (1986), which was roughly his vision of what Axel Foley’s movie should be.
The film was heavily influenced by Clint Eastwood’s ‘Dirty Harry’ saga and its depiction of a cowboy cop who disobeys the rules and his superiors to hunt down criminals, even going so far as to cast several actors from some of Eastwood’s films, such as Reni Santoni and Andrew Robinson, to cement this influence.
‘Cobra’ was another big blockbuster when it was released; it did not reach the level of the Eddie Murphy film, but it was a very profitable investment for Cannon and Warner Bros. who produced and distributed the film.
In short, the decision to do without Stallone for ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ was the right one and in the end benefited everyone involved. On the one hand, Eddie Murphy got one of his most iconic roles, for which he was also paid four million dollars, and the producers were happy with the film’s reception and financial performance. On the other hand, Stallone was able to realize the vision he had for this story with ‘Cobra’, which was also a huge box office success.
What was ‘Cobra’ about and was it a good movie?
‘Cobra’ was an action movie released in 1986, directed by George P. Cosmatos. It starred Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen and Reni Santoni. It was written by Stallone himself, produced by The Cannon Group, and distributed by Warner Bros.
In this feature film, Stallone stars as Lieutenant Marion “Cobra” Cobretti of the Los Angeles Police Department, who must investigate a series of violent crimes while protecting a key witness (Nielsen). All while dealing with the dangerous members of a cult that threatens to take over the city.
The film was a box office success, grossing $160 million against a budget of $25 million. Despite this, its overall reception was very negative, with a score of 18% from critics and 43% from audiences on aggregators such as Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 5.8/10 on IMDb.
Its main negative points, according to many of these unfavorable reviews, were its extreme violence and its overuse of cop-action genre clichés. Despite this, many Stallone fans consider it a cult classic in his long and extensive filmography.