American audiences were first introduced to Murphy from NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Following his stint on television, Murphy moved to movies, first starring in 1982’s 48 HRS. He teamed up with Nick Nolte for the buddy comedy, which opened with just $4.3 million but finished with close to $76 million domestically (unadjusted)! It was 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop that really put Eddie Murphy on top, however. It opened in December with $15 million, but finished with $234 million. It also spent an incredible 14 non-consecutive weeks at #1, and 28 weeks in the top 10! Now an A-list star, Murphy built a huge fan base and was on his way to an illustrious movie
career, which garnered him four Golden Globe nominations.

If Eddie Murphy is known for anything, it's “buddy comedies.” Many of his films have the actor joining up with another A-list actor, including 48 HRS., Life, Bowfinger, Shrek, and Showtime to name a few. The combined grosses of all of his films equal close to $2.2 billion, proving that Eddie Murphy is definitely a box office force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, Murphy has lost a lot of his shine after headlining a string of flops and only grabbing big successes from remake sequels. Murphy’s career is only going downhill and this week’s horrendous release of Pluto Nash only pulled him further down the drain, becoming the biggest bomb of his career and one of the biggest movie plunders in history!

Over the past five years, Murphy has starred in box office duds including 1997’s Metro ($32 million), 1998’s Holy Man ($12 million) and this year’s Showtime ($38 million). He has also starred in moderate performers such as 1999’s Bowfinger ($66 million) and Life ($64 million). Eddie has churned hits out of The Nutty Professor and Dr. Dolittle, and their sequels
respectably. The sequels, however, were not seen to be on par with their predecessors, only demonstrating the public’s lack of interest in Murphy’s latest box office endeavors. This conception changed when Murphy co-starred in 2001’s monstrous hit, Shrek, which grossed an incredible $267 million domestically. Murphy’s jumpy role as Donkey pulled in brand new young
audiences with his charm, putting him back on top temporarily.

2002’s Showtime teamed Rene Russo, Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro. Many thought that this was a guaranteed hit yet it flopped. This past weekend, Eddie Murphy’s latest film, Pluto Nash, opened in tenth position with a miniscule $2.15 million. It earned a horrible per-screen average of $927 and could finish with under $5 million. The Warner Bros. film was delayed for over two years and cost a reported $90 million to make. Eddie Murphy was reportedly paid $20 million to star in the major flop. I have thought profoundly lately, attempting to determine whether Murphy really has any star power left and whether he is really that funny anymore.

Murphy was once the leading African American male comedian working in Hollywood. Actors such as Chris Tucker, Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Jamie Foxx, and the Wayans brothers may have hurt Murphy’s dominance. Personally, I feel that Murphy has become somewhat desperate in his box office endeavors, choosing high-profile animated films, remakes, sequels, and huge star-powered buddy films over the past few years. He has not reinvented himself, but is only giving audiences exactly what they expect. After twenty years of close to the same act, Eddie Murphy may have overstayed his welcome. Films such as 1987’s Eddie Murphy Raw, The Nutty Professor, Mulan, and Shrek allowed the star to go all out and act to his full potential. Pulling all strings, the comedian grabbed back lost audiences with Shrek and showed that he really had box office gold still in him, and still has a creative shine in his comedy. After Shrek, Eddie Murphy went straight for Showtime, a very familiar and unoriginal film that audiences chose to ignore. If the once potent actor really wants to reach higher pinnacles, he needs to reinvent himself and show audiences that he has new tricks to offer audiences. People want to see Eddie Murphy, just not in the same role in every movie. Audiences need a break from sequels and Murphy buddy comedies.

This past week’s Pluto Nash has Eddie Murphy teaming with Men in Black 2’s Rosario Dawson. He stars as a nightclub owner on the moon. This film could have been a good movie for Murphy to reinvent his comedic talents due to its strange premise. Unfortunately, commercials have been VERY unappealing and offer very few laughs. Even Eddie Murphy refused to promote the “dead on arrival” film. Nash was not even screened for critics, which is never a good sign for a film. When I first saw ads for the movie, I thought to myself, “same old, same old.” From an outlandish comedy like Pluto Nash you would expect Murphy to pull new strings and try new gags, yet I practically saw the same old Eddie Murphy act (nothing new or worthwhile). Although marketing can be blamed for Pluto Nash’s surefire “flop” status, Murphy is also to blame. Apparently more time was spent on the film’s sets and special effects than the script. Warner Bros. was also fairly insecure of Pluto Nash’s quality, as they delayed it for over two years, gave it a moderately low screen count of 2320 and dumped the film near the end of the summer season. Warner Bros. cannot be surprised that their latest release is now being called one of the biggest box office plunders in movie history.

Pluto Nash also experienced a fairly open marketplace, facing only Universal’s Blue Crush as a first week release. If Pluto Nash appeared worthwhile whatsoever, the space flick could have taken full advantage of the open market. Unfortunately, few laughs and an unappealing premise killed the film and led to another Eddie Murphy disappointment. The Adventures of Pluto Nash opened to half of 1998’s Holy Man, which debuted with a mediocre $5.1 million from 2013 theaters, finishing with a disappointing $12 million and becoming Eddie Murphy’s biggest box office plunder at the time. Pluto Nash now holds that undesired title.

This spotlight on Eddie Murphy and his latest films had the sole purpose of demonstrating the actor’s lack of choosing challenging roles lately, other than in animated films as secondary characters. This lack of ingenuity is dramatically hurting Eddie Murphy’s career. Murphy earned $20 million for The Nutty Professor 2, Dr. Dolittle 2, and The Adventures of Pluto Nash. If he really wants to earn his paycheck, Eddie needs to reinvent his comedic style and show the world that he’s much more than an average comedian, and can still offer audiences his own creative and genuine style. Up next for Murphy is the (gulp) November buddy comedy, I Spy, with Owen Wilson. It is based on the 1960’s television series starring Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. He also has next May’s Daddy Day Care, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Haunted Mansion, and Shrek 2 on his upcoming slate. Hopefully Eddie Murphy will reinvent his style to prove once and for all that he is still a box office titan to be reckoned with. Otherwise Murphy will be down the Hollywood drain of washed up careers. Say it isn’t so Eddie!