10 Best Last Minute Replacements For Actors In Major Movies

4. Eddie Murphy Over Sylvester Stallone (Beverly Hills Cop)

Hilariously, Sylvester Stallone was the original choice to play wise-a** cop Axel Foley in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. However, Stallone took an incredibly hands-on approach with the film's development, even re-writing the script as a straight action thriller with the hero renamed "Axel Cobretti" (a surname Stallone recycled for his 1986 thriller Cobra).

Paramount couldn't satisfactorily budget Stallone's more elaborate concept, so a mere two weeks before filming was planned to begin, he pulled out. Just two days later, the part was offered to Eddie Murphy, with snappy re-writes taking place to better tailor the script to his personality.

It was absolutely the right decision for the movie and the franchise. It's easy to imagine Stallone's version of Beverly Hills Cop being just another forgettable thriller - like Cobra, really - but Murphy's motormouth performance combined with a cracking supporting cast and Oscar-nominated screenplay ensured it remains a quintessential 80s classic.