Eddie Murphy on the red carpet for Being EddieImage via Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images
By
Thomas Butt
Published 26 minutes ago
Thomas Butt is a senior writer. An avid film connoisseur, Thomas actively logs his film consumption on Letterboxd and vows to connect with many more cinephiles through the platform. He is immensely passionate about the work of Martin Scorsese, John Ford, and Albert Brooks. His work can be read on Collider and Taste of Cinema. He also writes for his own blog, The Empty Theater, on Substack. He is also a big fan of courtroom dramas and DVD commentary tracks. For Thomas, movie theaters are a second home. A native of Wakefield, MA, he is often found scrolling through the scheduled programming on Turner Classic Movies and making more room for his physical media collection. Thomas habitually increases his watchlist and jumps down a YouTube rabbit hole of archived interviews with directors and actors. He is inspired to write about film to uphold the medium's artistic value and to express his undying love for the art form. Thomas looks to cinema as an outlet to better understand the world, human emotions, and himself.
Sign in to your Collider account
Summary
Generate a summary of this story
follow
Follow
followed
Followed
Like
Like
Thread
Log in
Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents:
Try something different:
Show me the facts
Explain it like I’m 5
Give me a lighthearted recap
One of the signature movie stars and celebrity icons of the last 40 years, Eddie Murphy has spent plenty of time in the spotlight, yet he remains an enigma. An actor defined by his rise to fame at an incredibly young age and a subsequent career of various ebbs and flows, Murphy unpacks his complex life in the new Netflix documentary, Being Eddie. His press tour, coinciding with the documentary, has also provided fascinating tidbits about his artistic process and other anecdotes about his career, including his regrets.
Ghostbusters, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Rush Hour are all iconic—now just imagine if they had starred Eddie Murphy. In an alternate world, he would've held supporting or lead roles in generation-defining movies that suited his comedic and genre-hybrid skills and pitted him against other exceptional actors and groundbreaking special effects. However, anyone who knows the fabric and charm of each of these movies knows that Murphy and the respective movies themselves were better off without each other.
Eddie Murphy Almost Starred in 'Ghostbusters', 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit,' and 'Rush Hour'
In Being Eddie, the star of beloved films like Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, and Shrek, chronicles his childhood, breakthrough as a stand-up and Saturday Night Live cast member, and rise to becoming America's favorite movie star. With his recent return to Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F and the upcoming fifth installment in the Shrek series, the 64-year-old Murphy has relied on his past glory to remain relevant, while also giving a revelatory, dramatic performance in 2019 in Dolemite Is My Name.
Sitting down with AP Entertainment, Murphy, a man with more wealth and success than most people put together, has his share of regrets, particularly with films he turned down. He lists Ghostbusters, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Rush Hour as the "big three" movies he wishes he had done. The reason behind this regret is self-explanatory. "They were huge, giant hits," Murphy said. With Ghostbusters, the decision was understandable and justified, as it came down to appearing in either that or Beverly Hills Cop, a leading role that cemented him as a major star. On the flip side, Murphy thought Roger Rabbit "sounded ridiculous," only to realize its brilliance after watching the final product. It's widely believed that Murphy was initially considered to play Winston Zeddemore, the fourth Ghostbuster, eventually played by Ernie Hudson, although director Ivan Reitman denies these claims. As for Roger Rabbit and Rush Hour, these starring roles would be occupied by Bob Hoskins and Chris Tucker, respectively.
Why Eddie Murphy Was Better Off Turning Down These Movies
Being such a luminary in the comedy world and a rare star that can turn mid-budget movies into blockbusters, it's no surprise that Murphy was offered these three movies. On paper, they would have suited his skillset, especially since he found an avenue blending comedy with action, science fiction, and fantasy throughout his career. Seeing Murphy act within these elaborate concepts would be enticing, but they are one of the many reasons why each film was better off without him.
Ghostbusters and Roger Rabbit are notably sold on their audacious premises first and foremost, and Murphy's presence would tip the scale too far in his favor. All the attention would be on Murphy rather than the inventive concepts of professional ghost catchers and cartoons integrated into the real world. Due to his tendency to ad-lib on set, the combination of his prodigious stature and spontaneity, compromising the precariousness of the effects, would've caused endless headaches for the production.
Related
The 10 Best Eddie Murphy Movies, Ranked
Get ready for Eddie.
Posts 3 By Jeremy Urquhart Jul 15, 2024Murphy's innate overpowering status would have its most damaging impact on the Rush Hour series, which is wholly centered around the unexpectedly electric chemistry between Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. While Chan was an international superstar, a Hollywood movie would've tipped the scales in Murphy's favor, compared to the relative movie star newcomer in Tucker. Murphy has thrived with co-stars like Nick Nolte, Arsenio Hall, and Martin Lawrence, but more likely than not, his movies are stand-alone showcases for himself. Ghostbusters is not solely a spotlight for Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, or Harold Ramis, but rather, their team dynamic and shared comedic sensibilities as writing partners or SNL alumni.
Casting Murphy as Eddie Valiant, the downtrodden detective who must uncover the truth behind a nefarious scheme in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, would've been a grave misreading of Robert Zemeckis' film and would have undermined its artistic ambition. The genius of the movie is that Zemeckis paid homage to classic film noir—the hard-boiled private eye, the inscrutable femme fatale, and the '40s L.A. setting—inside this comic farce with Disney and Looney Tunes cartoon characters. The film's pathos and gravitas come from Bob Hoskins' wonderful performance filled with genuine sadness and rage, and he plays the part as if he actually was in The Maltese Falcon. Dreamgirls and Dolemite validated Murphy as a dramatic actor, but it's hard to imagine him as Valiant without it devolving into parody or over-the-top theatrics.
Eddie Murphy should be the last person to have regrets, but all humans are prone to second-guessing. Still, everything went according to plan thanks to his instincts.
Being Eddie is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
Being Eddie
Like R Documentary Release Date November 12, 2025 Director Angus WallCast
See All-
Eddie Murphy
-
Kevin Hart
-
Jamie Foxx
-
Pete Davidson
Expand
Collapse
-
Ghostbusters
We want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.
Be the first to post Images Attachment(s) Please respect our community guidelines. No links, inappropriate language, or spam.Your comment has not been saved
Send confirmation emailThis thread is open for discussion.
Be the first to post your thoughts.
- Terms
- Privacy
- Feedback
Nov 11, 2025
Eddie Murphy Says His Career Is Going To Take a "Hard Left" After Netflix's Documentary
16 hours ago
14 Years Later, Zack Snyder's Most Underrated Movie Is a Streaming Hit
15 hours ago
Studio Ghibli Redefined Female Power With These 10 Groundbreaking Protagonists
14 hours ago
10 Thrilling Miniseries To Watch if You Love Peacock's 'All Her Fault'
More from our brands
50 Best New Movies on Streaming to Watch Right Now
Movies To Watch If You Like 365 Days
Why John Wayne Refused to Work with Clint Eastwood
50 Best New TV Shows to Stream Right Now
Eddie Murphy's $735M Action Comedy Trilogy That 'Gets Better With Time' Is Leaving Netflix Soon
Hollywood's 12 Greatest Actor Comebacks Of All Time
Why Eddie Murphy's New Comedy Has Such A Low Rotten Tomatoes Score
What To Watch
July 20, 2025
The 72 Best Movies on Netflix Right Now
Trending Now
The 10 Weakest Movie Endings That Felt Like a Cop-Out
‘The White Lotus’ Season 4 Gets Massive Update Ahead of Filming in France
The 10 Greatest War Manga of All Time, Ranked
