Shaq takes the ball and runs with it while auditioning for Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Shaquille O’Neal auditions for Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F in a hilarious promo featuring the NBA legend and a banana.

NBA legend and former genie in a bottle Shaquille O’Neal is ready to stick bananas in tailpipes and take Beverly Hills by storm as Shaqxel Foley for Netflix‘s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F! In a new promo for the long-gestating sequel starring Eddie Murphy in one of his most iconic roles, Shaq proclaims his love for the Beverly Hills Cop film series while auditioning to replace Murphy as the wise-cracking Detroit law enforcement officer import Axel Foley. Shaq brandishes a banana in the video while reciting lines from the upcoming action film. Shaq, known for his skills on the basketball court, is a humble giant with comedic chops. Check out his Hot Ones interview if you want to see Shaq hamming it up for laughs. It’s a classic piece of internet goodness.

Mark Molloy directs Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F from a story by Will Beall. Beall co-wrote the screenplay with Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten, based on characters created by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr. In Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Detective Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is back on the beat in Beverly Hills. After his daughter’s life is threatened, she (Taylour Paige) and Foley team up with a new partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and old pals Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton) to turn up the heat and uncover a conspiracy.

Beverly Hills Cop alums Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot return to help Axel raise hell in Beverly Hills, with Kevin Bacon bringing heat as the film’s villain. So far, Ronny Cox is sitting this one out. Despite being eighty-four, Cox is still active, recently appearing in Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos. He also contributed a vocal performance to the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy.

Shaq’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F promo is a fun way to promote Murphy’s new film. Shaq waving a banana around recalls Foley’s fruit-related prank from the first film and recalls his role as the wish-granting genie in the 1996 family comedy Kazaam to poke fun at himself. I would have enjoyed a reference to his 1994 sports film Blue Chips or a throwback to his 1994 beat-em-up video game Shaq Fu. I’ll take what I can get.

Are you excited about Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F coming to Netflix on July 3, 2024? Let us know in the comments.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.