Chris
A lot of people don’t believe such a thing as overnight stardom exists, but sometimes—just sometimes—it does. Perhaps the most famous such example is Eddie Murphy, who became a global superstar off of just one movie, 48 Hrs, a rough-and-tumble action programmer no one had a ton of faith in when it came out around Christmas time in 1982, but which became a runaway smash, upgrading its co-star, Eddie Murphy, to superstar status.
He’s one of the only major Hollywood stars who never really played a supporting role. His first movie was 48 Hrs, and once it came out, there was never again a time when he wasn’t a star.
But how did a run-of-the-mill action movie wind up giving a virtual unknown a star role? Let’s take a look at how 48 Hrsbecame one of the defining movies of the decade.
Was Eddie Murphy Unknown Before 48 Hrs?
Now, anyone who knows movie or TV history knows that Eddie Murphy wasn’t just plucked out of nowhere when he starred in 48 Hrs. His casting was highly unconventional, but he’d been rising in prominence at the time he was cast.
He gained national attention when, as a very young stand-up (he was only 18 years old), Murphy was cast as a featured player on Saturday Night Live. He was part of the disastrous 1980–81 cast under the supervision of Jean Doumanian, who took over for Lorne Michaels and attempted to build a new ensemble.
Simply put—the cast stank.
Murphy, as a background player, had to fight for airtime, but he scored in a few isolated bits. When Doumanian was fired and Dick Ebersol was brought in, only Murphy and co-star Joe Piscopo—who was also beginning to make a name for himself—were kept.
Under Ebersol, the two would anchor the next season, and Murphy’s talent quickly became impossible to ignore.
How Did Eddie Murphy Break Out on Saturday Night Live?
Murphy created many recurring characters that have since become classics, including his take on Gumby, Buckwheat from The Little Rascals (“Otay!”), Velvet Jones, Mr. Robinson, and his spot-on impressions of James Brown and Stevie Wonder.
The latter was so impressed that he would actually appear on SNL to riff with Murphy.
Eddie also became a favorite on the talk-show circuit, regularly dazzling hosts like Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett with his razor-sharp wit.
How Was 48 Hrs Originally Cast?
When Murphy was in his second season on SNL, Paramount Pictures was putting together a slate of movies, and one of them—48 Hrs—was being positioned as a potential buddy action flick for Clint Eastwood and Richard Pryor.
The movie tells the story of a burned-out, hard-living San Francisco cop named Jack Cates, who is tracking escaped prisoner Albert Ganz, who—along with his partner Billy Bear—kills a couple of cops and escapes with Cates’s service revolver.
His only lead is an incarcerated thief, Reggie Hammond, who participated in a robbery with Ganz and is the only one who knows where their lost loot is. Hammond agrees to help Cates if he springs him from jail, and Cates manages to secure him a 48-hour pass.
Why Didn’t Clint Eastwood Star in 48 Hrs?
The script was developed by Roger Spottiswoode, a former editor of Sam Peckinpah who wanted to direct. He worked on it with his colleague from Hard Times, Walter Hill, with further overhauls by Tracy Keenan Wynn.
By this point, Hill—riding high after the success of The Warriors—was signed to direct.
The studio wanted Clint Eastwood to play Jack Cates and Richard Pryor to play Reggie Hammond (then called Willie Biggs). However, Eastwood didn’t want to play the cop—correctly sensing that the convict was the better role—and tried to have the script rewritten so he could play the crook.
Hill couldn’t make it work, so Eastwood passed, and the role went to Nick Nolte, who had previously scored a solid hit for Paramount with North Dallas Forty.
How Did Eddie Murphy Get Cast in 48 Hrs?
As for Reggie, when Pryor didn’t pan out, Gregory Hines was briefly considered but was unavailable.
Wanting to preserve the Black guy/white guy dynamic—which they rightly knew would be potent—Hill’s girlfriend, agent Hildy Gottlieb, suggested he look at Murphy’s SNL work.
And just like that, a legend was born.
Once Murphy was cast, the script was overhauled by Steven E. de Souza and tailored to his talents, with another writer, Larry Gross, meshing particularly well with Hill as the movie evolved from a straight action thriller into something closer to an action-comedy hybrid.
Why Does 48 Hrs Change When Eddie Murphy Appears?
Watching 48 Hrs now, it’s remarkable how much energy the film gains once Murphy enters the picture.
The first act is tight but grim, with Nolte’s Jack Cates presented as a hard-ass hero in a violent, largely humorless movie.
Once Eddie shows up, the film gets a jolt of electricity, with Murphy’s megawatt charisma on full display from the moment he’s introduced singing along to The Police’s “Roxanne” in his jail cell.
What Is the Most Famous Scene in 48 Hrs?
The dynamic between Murphy and Nolte is compelling, with the two initially despising each other, and Nolte’s Cates even baiting him with racial epithets.
The movie truly hits its stride when Reggie convinces Jack to let him take the lead during their investigation of a cowboy bar.
The entire sequence is a masterclass, as Murphy completely takes over the movie, aggressively confronting the racist cowboys and bossing everyone around. Even Nolte’s Jack starts to come around, clearly impressed by how effortlessly cool Reggie is.
That scene likely planted the seed for the idea of Murphy one day playing a cop.
How Influential Was 48 Hrs on the Buddy-Cop Genre?
Nolte and Murphy have a strong, antagonistic chemistry that proved hugely influential.
The Black guy/white guy buddy-action dynamic became the gold standard for the genre throughout the decade, most famously echoed on Miami Vice and in the Lethal Weapon series, though those films adjusted the formula by making both characters cops instead of a cop and a crook.
Does 48 Hrs Still Hold Up?
Hill’s film still holds up as a tough, well-paced action movie, bolstered by surprisingly effective action sequences and an early score by James Horner.
Rather than functioning as comic relief, Murphy’s Reggie is treated as a full partner in the carnage, making 48 Hrs a legitimate two-hander despite Murphy being virtually unknown at the time.
By the midpoint of production, it was obvious Murphy was a star.
Was Eddie Murphy Almost Replaced?
When studio executives—misreading the film’s vibe—briefly suggested replacing him, both Nolte and Hill flatly refused.
Paramount was lucky they did.
How Successful Was 48 Hrs at the Box Office?
Released on December 8, 1982, 48 Hrs became a juggernaut.
It outgrossed every film it competed against, including Richard Pryor’s The Toy and Paramount’s own Airplane II: The Sequel. It finished as the seventh highest-grossing movie of the year with $78 million and became a massive hit on cable and in the early days of home video.
What Did 48 Hrs Launch for Eddie Murphy?
Its impact was immediate and lasting.
When Nolte was scheduled to host SNL but fell ill and had to bow out, Murphy stepped in—becoming the only cast member in the show’s history to host while still officially part of the ensemble.
Under contract, Murphy remained on SNL for another season and a half before becoming Paramount’s biggest star of the 1980s, launching a historic run that included Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop I & II, The Golden Child, Coming to America, and the concert films Delirious and Raw.
Why Didn’t Another 48 Hrs. Work?
When Paramount attempted to sequel 48 Hrs in 1990, the magic wasn’t quite there.
Murphy had become a far bigger star than Nolte, and the film was reshaped into more of a Murphy-centric star vehicle. Matters were made worse when Walter Hill was forced to cut nearly an hour from the film at the last minute to emphasize comedy.
While it wasn’t the disaster many remember—it grossed around $80 million—it was expensive, poorly reviewed, and marked the beginning of a fallow period for Murphy.
Still, Murphy has always been the king of comebacks.
Why 48 Hrs Still Matters
48 Hrs was the start of one of the most influential film careers of all time—and a crucial chapter in our shared cinematic history.
