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70-595: Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeyer (born 5 October 1952) is a German musician, composer and record producer. Faltermeyer is best known for composing the " Axel F " theme for the feature film Beverly Hills Cop , an influential synth-pop hit in the 1980s. He also composed the " Top Gun Anthem " for the feature film Top Gun , along with its score, and the music for the Chevy Chase Fletch feature films, Fletch and Fletch Lives . The Beverly Hills Cop and Top Gun projects earned him two Grammy Awards :

140-474: A Yamaha DX7 was used for the marimba sound, and a LinnDrum was used for drum programming. All instruments were played by Faltermeyer. According to Faltermeyer, the initial reaction to his first presentation of the track to the film's producers and director did not result in an immediate approval; it was not until director Martin Brest voiced his approval that the producers showed enthusiasm. A music video

210-407: A 2004 interview with Entertainment Weekly , Chase confirmed this was his favorite and most successful part. Chase did not officially agree to take the role until after producer Alan Greisman and screenwriter Andrew Bergman got involved. Mcdonald sent Chase a telegram saying, "I am delighted to abdicate the role of Fletch to you." Bergman remembers that he wrote the screenplay very fast. "I did

280-466: A bonus track. The song "Bad Guys" is based on the (otherwise unavailable) main theme for Beverly Hills Cop II . In 1989, Faltermeyer composed soundtrack music on the Fletch sequel Fletch Lives . In 1990, he co-produced the album Behaviour with Pet Shop Boys at his studio near Munich. The album was released later the same year. In Vienna , Faltermeyer and Rainhard Fendrich collaborated on

350-490: A fat one." In his review for the Chicago Reader , Dave Kehr wrote, "Chase and Ritchie make a strong, natural combination: the union of their two flip, sarcastic personalities produces a fairly definitive example of the comic style of the 80s, grounded in detachment, underreaction, and cool contempt for rhetorically overblown authority figures." Neil Gaiman reviewed Fletch for Imagine magazine, stating that it

420-534: A gross of $ 7 million. It went on to make $ 50.6 million in North America and $ 9 million in the rest of the world, for a worldwide total of $ 59.6 million. The film performed well on home video, earning $ 24.4 million in rentals. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , 79% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Quotably funny – and fast-paced enough to smooth over

490-455: A hit, even when the first previews weren't that good. They never got frightened. They just said this is a hit, they were selling it like a hit, and then it was a hit. That was a very fun project." The narration was added during post-production. The soundtrack was mastered by Greg Fulginiti at Artisan Sound Recorders. Fletch was released on May 31, 1985, in 1,225 theaters, debuting at second place behind Rambo: First Blood Part II with

560-786: A moderate success on the US Rhythmic Top 40 where it peaked at number 28. It also peaked at number 3 on the US Digital Sales chart, beating the likes of Lindsay Lohan and the Black Eyed Peas . Its highest U.S. success was number 2 on the US Adult Contemporary Top 20. The song later became an Internet meme . The song was the 65th best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK. The Ministry of Sound hired Kaktus Film and Erik Wernquist of TurboForce3D,

630-513: A ranch in Provo, Utah . Fletch travels to Provo and breaks into the realtor's office and discovers the sale price was only $ 3,000. Meanwhile, Police Chief Jerry Karlin learns of Fletch's drug report. He warns Fletch that the article will jeopardize his supposed undercover operation on the beach. Karlin threatens to kill Fletch unless he agrees to drop the investigation. At the tennis club, Fletch witnesses arrogant club member Ted Underhill shouting at

700-638: A reworking of "Axel F 2003" by Murphy Brown and Captain Hollywood was released by Crazy Frog , titled "Axel F". This version became a summer hit that year. The song is by far Crazy Frog's most successful single. Like "Axel F 2003", Crazy Frog's version was also produced by the Off-cast Project, and Henning Reith and Reinhard "DJ Voodoo" Raith, two members of the German dance production team Bass Bumpers . Wolfgang Boss and Jamster! arranged

770-461: A rock combo and studied trumpet and piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich . While still studying he found work at a recording studio. Within three years he was engineering major classical sessions for the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. Then in 1978, Giorgio Moroder recognized his talent and brought him to Los Angeles to play keyboards and arrange the soundtrack for

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840-509: A sarcastic investigative reporter in a direct parody of Fletch , right up to the Lakers shirt, disguises, and a version of Fletch's theme playing during his scenes. The film was followed by a 1989 sequel, Fletch Lives . A follow-up to Fletch Lives had been discussed in the 1990s at Universal Studios . During his association with Universal after the production of Mallrats (this was because Gramercy Pictures , which released Mallrats ,

910-735: A successful dance cover of "Axel F" in 1995. Produced by Richard Pritchard and Stu Allan , it was featured on their debut album, It's Time... (1995), and peaked at number five in Scotland, number seven in the UK overall, number eight in Ireland and number 37 in Sweden. On the Eurochart Hot 100 , the single reached number 20 in March 1995, while in Australia , it peaked at number 42. When

980-463: A terminal cancer prognosis and suicide would invalidate his life insurance policy. Fletch becomes suspicious when he discovers the man is not ill; when he continues to investigate, his life is threatened. Fletch did well with critics and at the box office – it was among the top 50 grossing domestic films in its first year of release. It was followed by a 1989 sequel, Fletch Lives . Subsequent decades saw many unsuccessful attempts to restart or reboot

1050-472: A track titled "Champion" as part of his album 3 Mai , tapping into Seoul's enthusiasm over the 2002 FIFA World Cup . "Champion" was partially inspired by Korean street cheering during the 2002 World Cup. Paul Lester of The Guardian called "Champion" a "thrashy disco ... which heavily samples Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer ". In 2003, Murphy Brown and Captain Hollywood released their eurodance version of "Axel F", titled "Axel F 2003". This version

1120-400: A waiter, and decides as revenge to use Underhill's tab to treat Gail to an expensive lunch in her private cabana. Fletch reveals Alan's murder scheme to her and tells her the true price of the ranch. He convinces her to let him continue his investigation. Fletch watches Stanwyk making a suspicious briefcase exchange with Chief Karlin, but is unable to deduce the nature of their meeting. When he

1190-505: Is "a very enjoyable detective comedy starring Chevy Chase as an undercover reporter who gets mixed up in a murder plot. Not as good as the Greg Mcdonald book it's based on." Fletch was first released on VHS in 1985 by MCA Home Video . The first DVD release was in 1998, but that release quickly went out of print. Universal Home Video re-released a special edition of Fletch  — the "Jane Doe" Edition on May 1, 2007. The film

1260-463: Is a real junkie. Stanwyk claims to have bone cancer with only months left to live, and wishes to avoid the suffering. Stanwyk offers $ 50,000 for Fletch to kill him at his mansion in a few days' time, stage the scene as a burglary, then flee to Rio de Janeiro . Fletch, not completely convinced by the truth of Stanwyk's story, agrees to the plan. Along with his colleague Larry, he begins investigating Stanwyk instead of completing his drug exposé, much to

1330-431: Is a reporter, and that he has already deduced Stanwyk's real plan to fake his own death by killing Fletch (who has a similar physical build to Stanwyk's) and burning his body beyond recognition, then escaping to Brazil with his first wife and Gail's $ 3 million. Stanwyk was also using his private jet to smuggle drugs from South America to supply Chief Karlin, who blackmailed ex-convicts Fat Sam and Gummy to distribute it on

1400-514: Is an electronic instrumental track by German musician Harold Faltermeyer . It served as the theme song for the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop , its eponymous character (as portrayed by Eddie Murphy ) and the film franchise it is based from, which became an international number-one hit in 1985. The track reached number one in Ireland as well as on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Additionally, it

1470-408: Is an anthology of Chevy Chase mannerisms in search of a character." Gene Siskel meanwhile called it his favorite film featuring Chase during a 1986 appearance on Johnny Carson , admiring the more genuine niceness of Chase's character in the film compared to Chase's others. Vincent Canby in his review for The New York Times praised Chase's performance, writing, "He manages simultaneously to act

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1540-464: Is chased by several police officers lying in wait at his apartment, Fletch goes into hiding, returning to Provo. Posing as an insurance investigator, he interviews Stanwyk's parents, learning that Stanwyk has been married to another woman for eight years; his bigamous marriage to Gail allowed him access to her vast wealth. Fletch arrives at Stanwyk's mansion on the night of the planned murder, but finds Stanwyk waiting to kill him instead. Fletch reveals he

1610-406: Is his favorite to date because "it allowed me to be myself. Fletch was the first one with me really winging it. Even though there was a script, the director allowed me to just go, and in many ways, I was directing the comedy." In an interview with a Fletch fansite , Mcdonald himself stated: "I watched it recently, and I think Chevy and Michael Ritchie did a good job with it." In 2008, the film

1680-537: Is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track and includes the retrospective featurettes, "Just Charge It to the Underhills: Making and Remembering Fletch," "From John Coctoastan To Harry S. Truman: The Disguises" and "Favorite Fletch Moments." IGN felt that this version was a decent replacement for anyone who still owned the film on VHS , but for "anyone seeking more than that will be sadly disappointed by

1750-477: The Los Angeles Lakers , and includes appearances by Lakers player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and play-by-play announcer Chick Hearn , as themselves during Fletch's dream of playing for the Lakers. Following the publication of Gregory Mcdonald 's Fletch in 1974, King-Hitzig Productions acquired the novel's film rights. After multiple attempts to get cameras rolling at Columbia Pictures , production on

1820-598: The Thief of Hearts and Fletch scores also received reasonably good coverage on their respective soundtrack albums. In January 2007, La La Land Records finally released a limited edition soundtrack (3000 CD copies) for Tango & Cash . In December 2016, the same label issued albums of his work on the Beverly Hills Cop series. In 1987, Faltermeyer recorded an album called Harold F with vocal tracks featuring various guest singers plus "Axel F" which appears as

1890-687: The UK Singles Chart and number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It also spent two weeks atop the American adult contemporary chart . Shipments figures based on certification alone. In 1992, German techno group Techno Cop covered the instrumental, and achieved modest success with a top 30 ranking on the German singles chart. Unlike the original, this version contains rap passages. British pop/dance act Clock released

1960-415: The '80s, like Caddyshack , too, that captured a certain wise-ass thing." In particular, the film appeals to college students who have asked Chase to talk about it at film classes. The actor has said that the appeal of the character is "the cheekiness of the guy ... everybody at that age would like to be as quick-witted as Fletch, and as uncaring about what others think." Chase has said that this film

2030-632: The 2002 musical Wake Up . Faltermeyer also provided the soundtrack for the 2007 computer game Two Worlds . He returned to film scoring for Kevin Smith's 2010 action comedy Cop Out starring Bruce Willis. Faltermeyer's music is also featured in Top Gun: Maverick . In May 2022 Faltermeyer published his autobiography Where's the Orchestra? My Story as an ebook to coincide with the release of Top Gun: Maverick. Axel F " Axel F "

2100-500: The Beverly Hills Police and Axel Foley. It's the first time that Crazy Frog has ever interacted with the original franchise. Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Fletch (film) The film revolves around Los Angeles Times reporter Irwin M. "Fletch" Fletcher, who is offered a large sum of money by a millionaire to kill him, claiming he has

2170-627: The beaches. Karlin arrives unexpectedly; learning of Stanwyk's intention to flee with nearly $ 1 million of the Chief's drug money, Karlin shoots and kills Stanwyk. Karlin and Fletch then fight over the gun until Gail strikes Karlin from behind with a tennis racket, rendering him unconscious. Karlin is indicted after the publication of Fletch's article, with testimony from Fat Sam and Gummy. Fletch begins dating Gail, taking her to Rio on Stanwyk's tickets and using Underhill's American Express Card . The film makes numerous references to Fletch's favorite team,

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2240-612: The best weekly sales of the year (out-selling rivals such as Coldplay by four copies to one), and remained at the top of the UK Singles Chart for four weeks to become Britain's third-best-selling single of 2005, outselling and outperforming the original version. In other European countries, the popularity has differed, with the song failing to make the top 20 in Switzerland at first, before gradually climbing to number 1, whilst only making number 18 in Russia. It also reached number 1 on

2310-572: The catcher. In 2011, the video was listed in NME ' s "50 Worst Music Videos", ranking at 47. As of October 2023, it has been viewed more than 4 billion times on YouTube. In 2024, as part of a tribute to celebrate the release of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F , the Crazy Frog YouTube Channel made a special crossover music video with Netflix , featuring scenes from the movie, but re-edited to feature Crazy Frog in them, being chased by

2380-501: The chagrin of his editor Frank Walker. Disguised as a doctor, Fletch goes to the hospital where he accesses Stanwyk's medical records and learns he does not have cancer. Fletch visits Stanwyk's wife Gail at her tennis club. Pretending to be Alan's friend, he flirts with her. Looking into Stanwyk's finances, Fletch finds that Gail recently converted $ 3 million of her personal stock in Boyd Aviation into cash for her husband, to buy

2450-459: The company that would eventually produce and distribute the film. Among the studios that rejected Fletch between 1975 and 1981 were: New Line Cinema , Columbia , 20th Century-Fox , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , United Artists , Paramount , Warner Bros , American International , General Cinema , Allied Artists , Zanuck / Brown , Universal , Viacom , First Artists , Pathé , and Time Life Films . Burrows credits Michael Douglas (who much earlier

2520-678: The cover was released in 1995, James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart, "There is no denying the brilliance of this record, making the Harold Faltermeyer classic more of a dance hit than he could ever have dreamed as the song makes the Top 10 close on ten years since the original did the same." Alan Jones from Music Week ' s RM Dance Update described the song as "another energetic remake". Another editor, James Hamilton , declared it as an "ultra excitingly galloping 135bpm Hi-NRG " track. In 2002, South Korean singer Psy released

2590-404: The early stages of development, Jeff Bridges , Charles Grodin and Barry Bostwick were among those considered to play Fletch. George Segal was at one point considered, but turned it down. Burrows also wanted Richard Dreyfuss , after Chase initially rejected the part. Years later, Chase told Burrows that he never knew about the original offer and that it was his then manager who rejected it. In

2660-507: The film Midnight Express . Moroder and Faltermeyer continued their collaboration in the next decade, producing Donna Summer albums and several hits for various artists. Soon Faltermeyer was earning an international reputation for both precise workmanship and trendsetting creativity in his use of synthesizer technology. Alongside a busy schedule as a record producer, he became increasingly involved in soundtrack work on Moroder's scores ( Midnight Express , American Gigolo and Foxes ) and

2730-400: The film stalled and the rights were eventually acquired by producer Jonathan Burrows in 1976. After Columbia Pictures passed on the film, Burrows shopped the film around at every studio in Hollywood. Trying a new tactic, Burrows submitted the script with a different title and put it in a different colored binder. Despite these efforts, there were still no takers, including Universal Pictures,

2800-625: The film, and took him out to dinner where, according to Mcdonald, "Point by point, he showed me where I was wrong. I was beautifully chewed out." Principal photography for Fletch began in May 1984. Parts of the film were shot in Salt Lake City International Airport , Provo and Orem, Utah , also Ogden, Utah, looking east from Mountain View motel across the 24th Street viaduct. According to actor Tim Matheson, Fletch

2870-401: The first draft in four weeks ... Then there was a certain amount of improv, and something that we used to call dial-a-joke," said Bergman. Phil Alden Robinson also did some uncredited work on the script. Mcdonald read the script and was angered by the deviations from his original text. He wrote to the studio and listed his many objections. Director Ritchie invited Mcdonald to the set of

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2940-691: The first in 1986 for Best Album of original score written for a motion picture or television special, as a co-writer of the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack; and the second in 1987 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance with guitarist Steve Stevens for " Top Gun Anthem" from the Top Gun soundtrack . As a session musician, arranger and producer, Faltermeyer has worked with numerous international pop stars including Donna Summer , Amanda Lear , Patti LaBelle , Barbra Streisand , Glenn Frey , Blondie , Laura Branigan , La Toya Jackson , Billy Idol , Jennifer Rush , Bonnie Tyler and Pet Shop Boys . Faltermeyer

3010-414: The freedom to improvise: "It all began when [costar] Tim Matheson asked me what my name was. Right away, with a straight face: ' Ted Nugent '." Chase recalls Ritchie as "Very intelligent. Very Tall (6'7"?) Trusting; allowing me so much freedom. Fine filmmaker!" "Chevy was very hot," recalled Bergman. "And the great thing was that Universal always thought Fletch was a hit movie, and they treated it like

3080-420: The hope that a new Fletch series would be "Miramax Films' first-ever series." After a disagreement between Chase and Smith in regard to differing levels of priority for the sequel project, Smith settled on adapting Fletch Won , which follows Fletch in his early years as a newspaper junior reporter. Smith intended to follow the novel's plot and characters much more closely than earlier Fletch films had. Filming

3150-516: The ill-executed extras and slap-dash sound upgrade." Additionally, the film was also the next-to-last to be released by Universal on the HD DVD format, March 11, 2008, and later released on Blu-ray disc on June 2, 2009. In an interview for the New York Post , Bergman tried to explain the film's appeal: "It's so bizarre, but Fletch strikes a chord. There's a group of movies like that in

3220-408: The jokes that don't land – Fletch is one of the best big-screen vehicles for Chevy Chase's brand of smug silliness." On Metacritic , it has a score of 68 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four. While the plot and supporting cast were praiseworthy, Ebert thought "the central performance

3290-458: The largely analog synth melodies. He also composed the theme song, "Bit by Bit", sung by Stephanie Mills . The full scores of these films were not released on album. Only a handful of additional score tracks complemented these hits on vinyl: "The Discovery" and "Shoot-out" from Beverly Hills Cop and "Memories" from Top Gun , and only ever as B-sides on singles. However, The Running Man and Kuffs were graced with full score albums and

3360-490: The lead role, Miramax head Harvey Weinstein refused to take a chance on Lee, citing the general inability of his films to gross more than $ 30 million at the box office. The role of Fletch remained uncast, with Smith considering a list of actors including Affleck, Brad Pitt , and Jimmy Fallon . Though Smith considered compromising and casting Zach Braff in the role, he eventually left the project in October 2005. Smith

3430-424: The material with a good deal of nonchalance and to float above it, as if he wanted us to know that he knows that the whole enterprise is somewhat less than transcendental." Time magazine's Richard Schickel wrote, "In Fletch , the quick, smartly paced, gags somehow read as signs of vulnerability. Incidentally, they add greatly to the movie's suspense. Every minute you expect the hero's loose lip to be turned into

3500-463: The next week. There it stayed for two weeks before climbing to the summit, where it remained for thirteen weeks. It fell off the first position being dethroned by Crazy Frog's 2nd single, " Popcorn ". This was only the second time that an artist had ever dethroned themself in that country. The song remained in the top 10 for 21 weeks, 30 weeks in the top 50 and 36 weeks in the chart. Its best weekly sales were 103,564 on its 6th week. On 1 December 2005, it

3570-425: The original creator of the 3D Crazy Frog, to produce a full-length animated music video to accompany the release of the song. An overview of the city is shown. Then someone in a van with attached satellite dishes and high-tech instruments on the interior sees a message on one of the monitor, which reads "Wanted: The most annoying thing in the world", referring to Crazy Frog, with a bounty of $ 50,000 specified for

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3640-594: The overall European chart, after initially being number 2 to Akon 's "Lonely" for several weeks; it stayed at number 1 until September. It also reached number 1 in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Ukraine, Spain, and Sweden. In France, the song entered the French Singles Chart at number seventy seven on 11 June 2005, and moved all the way to number two

3710-500: The prequel/origin story would have allowed Smith to make the movie without Chase, while still leaving the door open for him to appear in a cameo role in framing scenes and/or as narrator. Around this time, Smith mentioned Jason Lee and Ben Affleck as possible choices to play Fletch. In August 2003, it was reported that the film was set to start shooting in January, with Smith still at the helm. Though Smith insisted on casting Lee in

3780-544: The remix. The song consists of additional vocals taken from the 1997 recording "2TAKTARE.mp3" by Daniel Malmedahl . It uses mainly the same part of the two-minute original that was used in Jamster's release. There were three edits to the song. The original version of the song can be found on most P2P networks. Released across Europe in May 2005, "Axel F" topped the charts in the United Kingdom, with some of

3850-454: The screenplay, described as more of a "gritty action comedy with heart", and has begun looking for a director. In April 2015, the purposed film moved to Relativity Studios after Warner Bros. passed on the idea. However, Relativity Media went bankrupt later that year and again in 2018. In July 2020, it was announced that a reboot was back on at Miramax. Based on the second book in the Fletch series, Confess, Fletch , Jon Hamm spearheaded

3920-405: The series; another Fletch film, Confess, Fletch starring Jon Hamm , was finally produced in 2022. Los Angeles Times undercover reporter Irwin M. "Fletch" Fletcher (who writes as "Jane Doe") is writing an article exposing drug trafficking on the beaches of Los Angeles . While posing as an addict, he is approached by Boyd Aviation executive vice president Alan Stanwyk, who assumes Fletch

3990-539: The worldwide hit, the " Axel F " theme (referred to by Faltermeyer himself as the "banana theme", as it was originally written for a specific scene where Detroit policeman Axel Foley gives a pair of Beverly Hills police officers the slip by shoving bananas up their exhaust pipe, causing their car to stall when they try and tail him). The year after, the Fletch theme expanded on his trademark electronic soundscapes with experimental phase modulated percussion effects woven into

4060-693: Was Chase's first film performance after recovering from his drug addiction . However, the studio hired director Michael Ritchie to keep Chase focused and comfortable on set. During principal photography, Ritchie would do one take sticking close to the script and then another take allowing Chase to ad-lib . Chase enjoyed the role, because it allowed him to play a wide variety of different characters. He said in an interview, "I love props, like wigs and buck-teeth and glasses. At one point I wear an Afro and play basketball with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar . There were some scenes where I didn't recognize myself." The comedian enjoyed working with director Ritchie, because he gave him

4130-552: Was a number two hit in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and West Germany. In addition to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, the song appears on Faltermeyer's 1988 album Harold F. as a bonus track. Faltermeyer recorded the tune using five instruments: a Roland Jupiter-8 provided the distinctive saw lead, a Moog modular synthesizer 15 provided the bass, a Roland JX-3P provided chord stab brasses ,

4200-481: Was announced that Lawrence was off the project and had been replaced by Steve Pink . In 2011, rights to the project were purchased by Warner Bros. , who requested screenplays from several writers that turned out to be unsuitable. In 2013, David List, who represents the McDonald estate, stepped in with his own draft, which proved attractive enough to engage Jason Sudeikis in the title role. The studio signed off on

4270-502: Was born in Munich , Bavaria , the son of Anneliese (née Schmidt), a homemaker, and Hugo Faltermeier, a construction businessman. Encouraged by his parents (the owners of a civil engineering firm), he started playing piano at the age of six. At 11, a Nuremberg music professor discovered that Faltermeyer had absolute pitch . His boyhood years combined training in classical music with a developing interest in rock 'n roll . He played organ in

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4340-626: Was certified diamond , 7 months after its release by the French certifier SNEP . The song is the third best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 1,270,000 units sold. (1,265,579 sales, according to another source). Despite Crazy Frog not being as well known in Japan, the single release also charted there, peaking at number 46. It peaked at number 50 in the US. Although "Axel F" managed to find more success in mainstream markets, it proved to be

4410-401: Was co-owned by Universal), Kevin Smith expressed interest in doing a third "Fletch" film as a sequel starring Chevy Chase, but it never came to fruition. In June 2000, it was announced that Kevin Smith was set to write and direct a Fletch film at Miramax Films , after the rights to the books, which Universal Studios had owned, reverted. At the time, Miramax co-head Harvey Weinstein expressed

4480-498: Was considered for the lead) for having the foresight and determination to get the film made; his half-brother Peter Douglas ultimately co-produced the film through his production company, Vincent Pictures . When Mcdonald's Fletch books were optioned, the author retained the right to veto casting choices. He rejected both Burt Reynolds and Mick Jagger as Fletch. When the studio mentioned Chevy Chase as Fletch, Mcdonald agreed, although he had never seen Chase perform. Throughout

4550-425: Was produced by Matthias Wagner and Andreas Dohmeyer of the Off-cast Project, and Bass Bumpers . It contains a vocal sample from Max Headroom ("What's going on?"), heard at the beginning of the song. It reached number 18 on the official German Singles Chart . This version was reworked two years later into the highly successful version by Crazy Frog , which was also completed by the same team of producers. In 2005,

4620-431: Was produced to promote the single, directed by Faltermeyer. Faltermeyer is featured wearing an overcoat, hat, and sunglasses; he sneaks into a computer lab at night and uses one of the machines to watch scenes from Beverly Hills Cop with himself edited in , interspersed with footage of a pole dancer , a female dancer, and of himself playing the synthesizer. Faltermeyer's version of the instrumental reached number 2 on

4690-428: Was replaced as writer/director by Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence , in what would have been his directorial debut. He had enthused, "Not only can I recite the original Fletch movie line for line, I actually read all the Greg Mcdonald books as a kid. Consider me obsessed — I'm going to try as hard as I can not to screw this up." Lawrence was signed to direct both Fletch Won and a sequel. Scrubs star Zach Braff

4760-410: Was rumored to be in talks for the lead role, and in January 2007, Braff posted on his website that "Bill Lawrence is writing and directing Fletch in the spring and he wants me to play young Fletch, but no firm plans are in place yet. He is still writing the script." In April 2007, Braff announced that he had dropped out of the film to work on his own film, a remake of Open Hearts . In June 2007, it

4830-455: Was soon hired as composer in his own right—usually composing, performing and producing the complete score as well as a number of pop songs penned for various artists. Early on he created work for 1984's Thief of Hearts , with electronic scoring and songs for Melissa Manchester , Annabella Lwin , Elizabeth Daily and others. Then came his big break with the landmark hip hop / breakdance -influenced score for Beverly Hills Cop , featuring

4900-599: Was voted the 23rd best film set in Los Angeles in the previous 25 years by a group of Los Angeles Times writers and editors, with two criteria: "The movie had to communicate some inherent truth about the L.A. experience, and only one film per director was allowed on the list." The 2005 animated feature Hoodwinked! , a parody of the Little Red Riding Hood story, depicts the Big Bad Wolf as

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