'I don't want to suck no more' - Eddie Murphy

It was one of the worst kept secrets in showbiz.

But Eddie Murphy finally confirmed he will return for yet another Beverly Hills Cop sequel on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

And in an act of surprising candour, he admitted that the loftiest goal he has for his return as wise-cracking detective Axel Foley is that it 'doesn't suck.'

Eddie told Ellen at the taping for Monday's show: 'We have a script that is kind of pretty much there and trying to get it perfect and the original producer Jerry Bruckheimer who produced the first movie is coming back to produce it. 

'We’ve got Brett Ratner, yes ma’am. My very good friend, Brett Ratner, the director.'

The latter is significant, as Eddie walked out on the chance to host the 2012 Academy Awards in a show of support after the filmmaker resigned as the show's producer after he made a gay slur.

Eddie added: 'We just get the script just right it's something that we’ll do. But this will be just perfect because I don’t want to do anything else that sucks ever again.'

Payback time: Brett Ratner will direct following Eddie's show of support over last year's Academy Awards show controversy

The wry comic was referring to his infamous string of critical and commercial flops in the 1990s and 2000s, which included the execrable Harlem Nights, the much mocked Vampire In Brooklyn and, most humiliatingly of all, The Adventures Of Pluto Nash, which made $7m on a $110m budget.

And just to underline his point, the funnyman added: 'That’s what I’m striving for. I don’t want to suck no more.'

In a shock move, this film is said to be set in Detroit, where Axel Foley actually works as a police officer, rather than his favoured West Coast getaway.

The franchise has been the most robust of Eddie's career, with each film making money at the box office.

The critically acclaimed first film from 1985 is one of the most successful of all time, making $316m off a $15m budget and sharing the record for the second most weeks at number one on the US box office.

Bye bye Beverly Hills: Axel will be actually be working in his native Detroit for a change in the new film

The second was almost as popular, making $300m off a $20m budget, while the much derided third installment made just $119m despite costing $50m to make.

There were more big figures floating around on Monday's show, as a donation of $10,000 courtesy of JCPenny to tragic Paul Walker's nonprofit charity Reach Out Worldwide was announced.

It is a network of professionals with first responder expertise who help in rescue and recovery after major natural disasters around the world.

A time for giving: Ellen announces a $10,000 donation to Paul Walker's charity on the forthcoming show