The 7 Wildest Roles Eddie Murphy Turned Down

Eddie Murphy is one of the funniest and most bankable actors of all.

But for every role he took on, he turned down many others.

Here are seven of the wildest roles Eddie Murphy turned down.

Ghostbusters

Eddie Murphy was offered a role in the original 1984 Ghostbusters, but he didn't take it.

Co-screenwriter and star Dan Aykroyd told him about the movie while they were on the set of Trading Places, but at the time, Murphy said the ghost flick "sounds like a crock ... to me," he told Extra. He was up for the role of Winston Zeddemore, which ended up going to Ernie Hudson — although when Murphy was being considered, the part was intended to have more screentime than it ultimately got, according to Vulture.

Murphy explained in a 2019 interview with Jimmy Fallon why he didn't end up in the iconic film franchise.

"Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wanted you to be one of the original Ghostbusters, but you turned it down," Fallon said.

"Because I did Beverly Hills Cop," Murphy replied. "It wasn't like I turned it down in as much as I wasn't available because I was doing this other movie."

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

It's not secret that Eddie Murphy loves Star Trek and wanted to be in one of the movies.

In a 2008 interview, Leonard Nimoy confirmed that he had spoken with Murphy about his potential involvement in the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

"I was called by Jeff Katzenberg, who was head of the studio, when I was prepping Star Trek IV. I remember his words very specifically. He said 'I have either the best idea in the world or the worst idea in the world, Eddie Murphy said he would kill to be in a Star Trek movie.' And I said, 'I think you are right it is either the best or worst idea in the world," Nimoy told TrekMovie.com.

He added: "I had several meetings with Mr. Murphy and what I said to him: 'We are very flattered you want to be in a Star Trek movie, we admire you, you admire us, neither of us want to do any harm to each other, so we will work on a script. So if we could develop a script that would work we would do it, and if not we will say thank you to each other and let it go.' And that is pretty much how it went."

More on Star Trek IV

Murphy ended up doing 1986's The Golden Child instead of Star Trek IV that year.

"I think he said later that he wished he would have done the Star Trek movie," Nimoy added.

In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Murphy explained why he ultimately left the project.

"You know which one it was, it was the one where they go to San Francisco and they get the whales… I was going to be the one that they met when they got to San Francisco, and I was like, 'No, I want to go and beam up and be on the ship,' so I didn’t do it," he said, adding, "They had me, like, talking jive to Spock in San Francisco."

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Murphy also talked to Fallon about the only movie he ever turned down that became a smash.

"The only movie I ever turned down that became a big hit was Who Framed Roger Rabbit," Murphy said. "I was gonna be the Bob Hoskins dude. I was like, 'What? Animation and people? That sound like bulls--- to me.'"

But Murphy looks back on his choice and regrets not doing the movie.

"Now every time I see it, I feel like an idiot," he said.

Malcolm X

According to The New York Times, Eddie Murphy was at one time involved in a version of Malcolm X, but later dropped out.

He was one of several directors, screenwriters and actors who were attached to different versions of the film at different times, during the two decades that it was circulating Hollywood looking to get made.

The Times notes that Richard Pryor was also attached, with screenwriters who cycled through including David Mamet and Calder Willingham, David Bradley and Charles Fuller. Directors who courted the project include Sidney Lumet and Norman Jewison.

Malcolm X ultimately found a home with director Spike Lee and star Denzel Washington in 1992.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Eddie Murphy was briefly attached to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which was conceived as a remake of the 1964 Marlon Brando and David Niven movie Bedtime Story. It follows the story of two con-men who compete to swindle women out of their money.

According to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels screenwriter Dale Launer, Murphy had seen Bedtime Story and wanted to do the remake. So did director Michael Ritchie, who directed Murphy in 1986's The Golden Child. So with Murphy and Ritchie attached, Launer took the script to Paramount — but to their surprise, Paramount passed.

Murphy left the project, but it went on in development for many more months. The film ultimately ended up at Orion Pictures and made its way into the hands of Steve Martin, who would star in the Brando role, with Michael Caine playing Niven's role.

Rush Hour

Eddie Murphy could have starred in 1998's Rush Hour, but he turned it down.

Murphy was offered the role of Carter opposite Jackie Chan as Lee in the 1998 Brett Ratner action-comedy movie, but he turned it down in favor of the 1998 comedy-drama Holy Man. In that one, he plays a TV preacher opposite Jeff Goldblum as a home shopping network executive.

"It's funny when I think of it now," Murphy told Extra back in 2003. "It was like, 'You can go jump all over California with Jackie Chan or go to Miami and wear a robe for three months.' I went to Miami and you see the results."

Daddy Day Camp

After the success of Daddy Day Care in 2003, a sequel was written with Eddie Murphy in mind to reprise his role as Charlie Hinton, an out-of-work dad who, in the first film, decides to open a day care with his pal Phil, played by Jeff Garlin.

According to JAM! Movies, Murphy had not yet signed on to the sequel, Daddy Day Camp, while the script was being written. Neither Murphy nor Garlin ended up doing Daddy Day Camp.

Instead, their roles were recast with Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Murphy's character Charlie and Paul Rae as Garlin's character, Phil. The film has a 1% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the general public was a bit more forgiving, with its audience score sitting at 38%.

Debunked: The Dark Knight Rises

In 2008, soon after after Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight came out, British tabloid The Sun reported (via The Guardian) that Eddie Murphy was in contention to play the Riddler in the third installment of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. The original Sun report has since been taken down.

The rumor was never confirmed outside of The Sun, and Murphy's own reps told Access Hollywood that it was "not true" that he was ever in contention to join the Christian Bale franchise.

Even Murphy himself debunked the rumor.

"I heard that rumor as well. I don't know anything about it," Murphy told Conan O'Brien on the Tonight Show in 2009. "Whoever is really playing the Riddler is sitting home calling his agent, going: 'We gotta have this rumor stopped.'"

More on The Riddler

However, Murphy did say at the time that he would like to do a Batman movie at some point.

"I would love to be in one of these Batman movies. Jim Carrey did the Riddler once and he did a wonderful job. They did the Riddler and they did the Penguin and they've done Mr. Freeze and they did the Joker. I could be Egghead," he joked to O'Brien.

We know now, of course, that there was no Riddler character in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, and that the main villain, Bane, was played by Tom Hardy. But Paul Dano recently played the Riddler in Matt Reeves's 2022 film The Batman opposite Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader.

Maybe next time, Eddie!

Liked This List of the Wildest Roles Eddie Murphy Turned Down?

You might also like this list of All 12 Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, From Cool to Mind-Blowing.

Main Image: Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop. Paramount.