"The Pickup" Trailer: Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson Team Up for a High-Octane Action Comedy with Keke Palmer

Eddie Murphy returns to the action-comedy genre, this time alongside Pete Davidson, as an armored truck driver and his rookie partner caught in a heist gone wrong.

In his prime, superstar comedian Eddie Murphy was unstoppable. There’s probably no other stand-up comic who reached the same level of crossover appeal—selling out arenas, topping the charts with comedy albums, and headlining blockbuster films all at once. But that was over 30 years ago. Now, much to our surprise and dismay, Murphy can be found headlining streaming originals, acting alongside the likes of Pete Davidson. Time … she can be downright cruel when she wants to.

Okay, so those days of starring in smash comedy hits like Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America might be in Murphy’s rearview mirror, but that doesn’t mean he ain’t got the juice—he still packs a punch, even if it’s streaming straight to your living room.

Take, for instance, Murphy’s marvelous portrayal of underground comedian-turned-blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore in the 2019 Netflix biopic Dolemite Is My Name, a film that we loved wholeheartedly and thought it meant a new chapter for the older Murphy. Alas, it seems Murphy has been relying more on legacy sequels these days, though we can concede that both Coming 2 America and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F had their moments, but not enough to relaunch Murphy back into the spotlight.

Murphy returns this summer with another action comedy, a genre he’s mastered since his Beverly Hills Cop heyday. But now he seems to be taking a gruff approach, leaning into that no-nonsense veteran vibe, leaving Pete Davidson to pick up the weight as his comedic foil. Will it work? Perhaps. Davidson certainly has his lane, and he knows how to mine it for maximum awkward hilarity with certain degrees of obnoxiousness.

And from the looks of things, most of the jokes involve that generational divide between him and his knuckle-headed partner, played here by Davidson. Again, it’s not the Murphy we fell in love with, but it’s the Murphy he has become. And on the bright side, he still has an indelible charm and wit that shines through every time he appears in this new trailer for his latest The Pickup.

In the film, Eddie Murphy plays Russell, a no-nonsense armored truck driver just trying to finish his shift. Pete Davidson plays Travis, Russell’s much younger and more inexperienced partner who serves as his backup. Russell knows the job and just wants to make it through the day and get back to his loving wife, played by Eva Longoria. While Travis ... well, let’s just say he needs more time to learn the ropes.

But when their cash run turns into a full-blown ambush led by criminal queenpin Zoe (played by Keke Palmer), the duo are forced to think fast, shoot faster, and argue the whole way through. However, those plans come up short when Zoe claims to be holding Russell’s wife hostage, forcing Russell and Travis into an ultimatum: rob a casino or have his wife killed.

Co-starring Ismael Cruz Córdova, Marshawn Lynch, Roman Reigns, and Andrew Dice Clay, the film is directed by Tim Story, of the Ride Along franchise.

So, strap in and get ready for buddy cop banter, big heists, and more twists than a freeway car chase when The Pickup screeches onto Prime Video August 6th.

Official Synopsis:

In the action-comedy The Pickup, a routine cash pickup takes a wild turn when two mismatched armored truck drivers, Russell (Eddie Murphy) and Travis (Pete Davidson), are ambushed by ruthless criminals led by a savvy mastermind, Zoe (Keke Palmer), with plans that go way beyond the cash cargo. As chaos unfolds around them, the unlikely duo must navigate high-risk danger, clashing personalities, and one very bad day that keeps getting worse.