Eddie Murphy reprises one of his most iconic roles in Coming 2 America, the sequel to the 1988 hit Coming to America. Murphy is prince-turned-king Akeem of the African nation of Zamunda, who once again has to head to New York City. Original Coming to America cast members Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, John Amos, and Louie Anderson are back along with Murphy as well. Watch the Coming 2 America trailer below.
Coming 2 America Trailer
In 1988, Eddie Murphy starred in Coming to America, a John Landis-directed comedy that saw Murphy playing Akeem Joffer, the crown prince of the African nation of Zamunda. Pampered his whole life, Akeem starts the film learning he’s about to enter into an arranged marriage. Unhappy with not being able to make his own decisions, Akeem and his friend Semmi (Arsenio Hall) head to New York City, where Akeem goes undercover as a commoner and searches for true love. The film was a huge hit – raking in $288 million in total worldwide box office gross – and continued to solidify Murphy as a genuine movie star. Now, more than 30 years later, Murphy is returning to the role with Coming 2 America. Here’s the synopsis:
Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi(Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began.
An earlier synopsis offered even more insight:
Set after the events of the first film, former Prince Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy) is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street savvy Queens native named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler). Honoring his royal father’s (James Earl Jones) dying wish to groom this son as the crown prince, Akeem and Semmi (Arsenio Hall) set off to America once again
In addition to the returning players, Coming 2 America also features Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Fowler, Bella Murphy, Rotimi, KiKi Layne, Nomzamo Mbatha, and Teyana Taylor. Official plans for a sequel were first announced back in 2017, although it wasn’t confirmed if Murphy would return. But in 2019, Murphy’s involvement became official. Craig Brewer directs from a screenplay by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, and David Sheffield (Blaustein and Sheffield wrote the original film, based on an idea from Murphy).
Will this long-awaited follow-up go over as well as the original? I guess we’ll see, but last year’s wonderful Dolemite Is My Name confirmed that Murphy’s comedic timing is still pitch-perfect, so I have no doubt Coming 2 America will garner laughs.
At one point, the plan was to release Coming 2 America strictly to theaters, but Paramount eventually worked out a deal to premiere the film domestically on Amazon Prime Video (it’ll still open in theaters in certain countries). Look for it on Amazon on March 5, 2021.
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