Brett Ratner has admitted 'Beverly Hills Cop 3' was a "bad movie".
The filmmaker - who is directing 'Beverly Hills Cop 4', the next film in the popular series - insists both he and the film's star Eddie Murphy accept the movie was not as good as its predecessors.
He said: "If you don't think Eddie recognises that movie is not good, if you don't think I recognise that movie's not good, I mean, come on. It's obviously a bad movie."
But Ratner - who is best known for directing the 'Rush Hour' series - plans to learn from the film's failings to create a "surprisingly good" sequel.
He explained to starpulse.com: "We're obviously aspiring to make a movie as good as the first one. It's not always easy. It's harder when you're in it. I'm an outsider.
"For me, the only challenge was to do 'Beverly Hills Cop'. There's nothing better. Even though there's a bad version of 'Beverly Hills Cop' - which is 'Beverly Hills Cop 3' - and I totally recognise that.
"Trust me - you're going to be very surprised by this. We're working on the script and when that script comes in we're going to make that movie."