Nick Nolte's concept for the unmade sequel 48 Hrs 3 would have seen his character broken out of prison by Eddie Murphy's con. Following his debut on Saturday Night Live, it didn't take long for Eddie Murphy to become one of the biggest stars on the planet. He was soon offered a lead role in Walter Hill's tough thriller 48 Hrs, where he played a con let out for jail for two days to help Nolte's cop catch a killer. The chemistry between the two combined with Hill's terse direction made the movie a surprise success.
Murphy soon followed up with the likes of Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop and went on to enjoy a run of huge hits throughout the rest of the decade. It was a sign of his stardom that by the time he returned for 1990's Another 48 Hrs, he was billed over Nolte and earned a much higher salary than he had for the original. The sequel is an enjoyable slice of old-school action, but suffered from the flaw of many follow-ups of that era by xeroxing the same basic story beats from the original, just with bigger setpieces.
If there's one plus in Another 48 Hrs corner, it's that the chemistry between Murphy and Nolte was still killer. The sequel justified its title by giving Angel Has Fallen co-star Nick Nolte's Jack a 48-hour deadline to clear his name after a shooting, but it tried to shoehorn in too many callbacks to the first. It seems Nolte wanted one last go at the series, and in 2012 told CNN his concept for a potential third 48 Hrs.
The veteran actor stated, "I wanted to be busted out after being thrown off the force, and Eddie [would] get out of prison, and he has got to figure out who has set me up." Jack having to rely on Reggie to not only clear his name but even break him out of prison would have added a very intriguing dynamic between the two. It seems nobody at the studio or even Walter Hill was particularly interested in this 48 Hrs 3 pitch, and while Paramount apparently saw Another 48 Hrs as something of a financial letdown at the time, it still made a very healthy $150 million worldwide.
Another 48 Hrs had something of a troubled post-production too, with the movie's runtime being chopped down fairly ruthless in editing. The late Brion James, who also returned from the original, had a much bigger role in the initial version which he compared to being basically the third lead, but much of it was removed. There's little sign of 48 Hrs 3 happening now, and though Murphy is revisiting old favorites with the likes of Coming 2 America, the audience demand for another 48 Hrs doesn't seem to be there.
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