The legendary Eddie Murphy is back in the public eye with the recent release of Coming 2 America, so our resident film critic, Brandon Vick, and I saw fit to take a deep dive into the filmography of the comedy icon on a recent episode of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. We’re both 34 years old – born in 1986, we missed out on the heyday of Murphy’s comedy run. If you ask us, we think The Nutty Professor and Dr. Dolittle before we do The Golden Child and Beverly Hills Cop. But, when we started digging into Murphy’s acting credits, we were interested to find that it almost feels like there are two Eddie Murphys – the raunchy stand-up comic, and the silly, zany, family flick star. When you look at his movies that made the most money at the worldwide box office, it reflects that too. Two eras of Murphy with multiple generations enjoying the man’s work for different reasons.
Eddie Murphy’s Highest Grossing Films
10. The Nutty Professor ($274M) – For my money, Eddie Murphy and Sherman Klump may as well be one in the same. This is quintessential Eddie Murphy to kids born in the late 80s and early 90s. You probably could’ve asked me what comedic genius looked like when I was 10 years old, and I would’ve pointed directly at this movie.
9. Beverly Hills Cop II ($277M) – The original was such a wild success that it’s no secret as to why they decided to run it back three years later. The sequel performed admirably with its $277M at the box office, something that wouldn’t be the norm for Murphy’s sequels throughout his career.
8. Coming to America ($289M) – The sequel dropped a few weeks ago, and Brandon has a full review of that here. But, the original is priceless in the sense that it’s one of the first movies old timers think of when they hear the name ‘Eddie Murphy.’
7. Dr. Dolittle ($294M) – I didn’t come here to take shots at Robert Downey, Jr. today, but I gotta say – this is the REAL Dr. Dolittle. The fact that this man could legitimately talk to animals blew young Stoney’s brain into another galaxy.
6. Mulan ($304M) – Y’all are tellin’ me Mulan only made $304M? I don’t know…maybe it’s because Disney owns the world right now, but that seems like a massive disappointment to me. Maybe it wasn’t back in 1998, but in 2021, it looks like one of the lower tier Disney movies. What’s that? Oh, it was considered a huge financial success back then? My bad. I’ll stop talking. Anyway, Murphy took a stab at voicing an animated character in Mushu the dragon, and it worked to perfection as the man has one of the most recognizable voices in movies.
5. Beverly Hills Cop ($316M) – To me, this is peak Eddie Murphy. It just doesn’t get any better. The fact that this thing pulled $316M in 1984 is even more impressive. I dare say Axel Foley is the role that really launched Murphy into that upper echelon of Hollywood superstardom.
4-1. Yep, you guessed it – Shrek out the ass ($2.99B collectively) – Listen, I know these big family-friendly, animated franchises rake in cash like nobody’s business, but the fact that the Shrek franchise hauled in nearly THREE BILLION dollars worldwide is still staggering to me. Murphy is the unmistakable voice of Donkey, and usually, it’s easy to imagine any ol’ voice behind a character, but not with Donkey – that ass couldn’t have been voiced by anyone else and worked as well as it did.
Check out the latest episode of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast, on which our resident film critic, Brandon Vick, and myself take a deep dive into the filmography of Eddie Murphy HERE:
Listen to “Ep. 68: Eddie Murphy” on Spreaker.Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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