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James Earl Jones has left an undeniable mark on the film industry. Despite an impressive and staggering filmography spanning more than six decades, there are movie titles that stand out for their cultural impact. Known for his strong voice and commanding presence, James Earl Jones has portrayed numerous iconic characters in a variety of genres across the years. His ability to imbue each role with depth and authenticity has solidified his status as one of Hollywood's most revered and legendary actors. James Earl Jones passed away on the morning of September 9, 2024, at his home in Dutchess County, New York. He was 93.

Jones' influence extends beyond the screen, with his voice work and Broadway stage performances also leaving their mark on audiences worldwide. His commitment to mentorship and advocacy has inspired a new generation of actors and artists to pursue their passions with dedication and integrity. A winner of the coveted Egot,...

Coming to America is coming to Paramount+. The beloved 1980s comedy starring Eddie Murphy, which is currently without a streaming home, will be added to the Paramount-owned service next month.

Set to arrive on Paramount+ on Aug. 1, 2024, Coming to America stars Murphy as Akeem Joffer, the crown prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda who travels to the United States in the hopes of finding a woman he can marry who will love him for who he is and not for his status. The comedy film also stars Arsenio Hall as Akeem's friend, Semmi; James Earl Jones as Akeem's father, King Jaffe Joffer; John Amos as Cleo McDowell; Madge Sinclair as Akeem's mother, Queen Aoleon Joffer; and Shari Headley as Lisa McDowell, Akeem's love interest and Cleo's eldest daughter.

Related 'I Forced Myself to Stop': Eddie Murphy Recalls Retiring Trademark Laugh

Exclusive: Eddie Murphy reflects on...

“(Sam) awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better.”

With music!

Of all the ways Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) would leap into others lives to put right what once went wrong on Quantum Leap, the most stories were always ones that involved music. Scott Bakula can do pretty much anything but that man can Sing. The people behind Quantum Leap took great advantage of this and across five seasons they gave him (and other actors) the chance to belt out many incredible songs – some originally written for the show itself and some flawless covers.

Now we’re going through the best of the best of these performances. We’ll be looking at the original series, the 2022 continuation, and an extra gem along the way. To help narrow this list down,...

Comedy movies on Amazon Prime cater to all tastes, making it a go-to streaming service for a good laugh. Comedy is a challenging genre to master, but the best comedies on Prime Video showcase the genre's potential. Prime Video competes with major streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus, offering exclusive content and classic movies.

The best comedies on Amazon Prime Video provide endless entertainment for anyone looking for a good laugh. Prime Video's huge content library has something for everyone, and the best comedy movies available on Amazon Prime cater to almost every taste. A major player in the streaming wars with Netflix, HBO, and Hulu, Prime Video has established itself as one of the must-have streaming services that can compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus. Subscribers have access to a mixture of exclusive content, popular new releases, and classic movies.

Given the subjectivity of what makes a person laugh,...

According to Shannon Amos, the daughter of John Amos, the beloved actor has fallen on hard times. Famous for playing Cleo McDowell in Coming to America, Percy Fitzwallace in The West Wing, Seth in The Beastmaster, and James Evans Sr. in the classic comedy series Good Times, Amos says her dad is recovering from a bout of elder abuse and possible financial crimes. According to Shannon, her dad phoned her from a hospital in Memphis, saying he was in unspeakable pain. Out of the country at the time, Shannon quickly hooked up with her dad on FaceTime to learn more about the situation.

Shannon says a “caregiver” took advantage of her father, robbing him and pillaging the actor’s home for valuables. Shannon would not disclose the caregiver’s name or the organization they’re associated with but is taking legal action to sort the details. After learning about the ordeal,...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Arriving March 8, 2022, Brand-New Disc Includes Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Footage and Director Commentary

The highly anticipated follow-up to the beloved classic Coming To America makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut when Coming 2 America arrives March 8, 2022 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Akeem and Semmi are back for a brand-new, hilarious adventure! In Coming 2 America, newly crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) traverse the globe from their great African nation of Zamunda to the borough of Queens, New York when Akeem learns he has a long-lost son in the United States. In addition to Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, the outrageously entertaining film features an incredible cast including James Earl Jones, John Amos, Louie Anderson, Shari Headley, Wesley Snipes, Tracy Morgan, and Leslie Jones.

The Coming 2 America Blu-ray includes commentary by director Craig Brewer and an exclusive featurette entitled “From Queens to Zamunda,...

Coming 2 America Review — Coming 2 America (2020) Video Movie Review, a movie directed by Craig Brewer, written by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, and starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, Garcelle Beauvais, Clint Smith, Leslie Jones, John Amos, Tracy Morgan, Wesley Snipes, Louie [...]

Continue reading: Video Movie Review: Coming 2 America (2021): A Fun Sequel that Entertains and Plays it Safe...

“Coming 2 America,” the long-awaited sequel to Eddie Murphy’s 1988 “Coming to America,” was the most-streamed title in the U.S. the week of its premiere, according to new Nielsen data.

The movie, released March 4 on Amazon Prime Video, drew 1.413 billion minutes of total viewing for the week of March 1-7 among U.S. viewers, per Nielsen’s SVOD Content Ratings estimates. African American viewers accounted for 40% of the film’s audience, according to the media measurement firm.

That put “Coming 2 America” ahead of every other TV show or movie on major streaming subscription services for the period, according to Nielsen — and represents Prime Video’s first No. 1 spot on the rankings.

The next most-viewed title for that week was Netflix original series “Ginny & Georgia” with 1.16 billion minutes over 10 episodes, followed by reruns of “Criminal Minds” on Netflix (929 million minutes) and Disney Plus’ “WandaVision” (924 million minutes). Also notable...

Zamunda might be King Akeem’s kingdom, but the “Coming to America” wouldn’t be complete without its Queens.

While Shari Headley’s Lisa McDowell captured fans’ attention and Akeem’s (Eddie Murphy) heart with her confidence and headstrong attitude in the 1988 original, “Coming 2 America” boasts a new crop of ladies who are ready to speak their minds and take their rightful place at the center of Zamunda’s legend, including KiKi Layne, Bella Murphy, Akiley Love and Nomzamo Mbatha.

“I’ve been watching this movie since I was a little kid. I wasn’t even born when the first one came out,” Layne, who plays Akeem and Lisa’s eldest daughter Meeka, tells Variety. “They never stop being funny, but for a lot of people that [movie] was the first time that people in African culture were represented [onscreen] as kings and queens, and rich, and had a wealth of resources and knowledge.

Decades after Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall drew in laughs with their cult classic Coming To America, Prime Video has finally released the much-awaited sequel, simply titled Coming 2 America. Even though it received a mixed critical response, the film has still won over a few audiences.

Related: 10 Eddie Murphy Roles, Ranked By Likability

Married happily with the women he met on his first American journey, King Akeem returns to America to find his long-lost son, wishing for him to be the next heir to the throne of Zamunda. While Murphy and Hall are back in action, other members of the original cast reprise their roles, including Shari Headley and James Earl Jones, along with a few new additions and surprise celebrity cameos.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away – wait, sorry, nope, wrong franchise. Let’s start again. Long, long ago in an era called ‘the late 80s’, Wesley Snipes was almost cast as Geordi La Forge, the helmsman of the USS Enterprise-d in Star Trek: The Next Generation who would go on to become its chief engineer.

After the audition process for the Next Generation character wrapped, Snipes would end up losing the part of Geordi to Roots actor LeVar Burton, which he has now admitted he was pretty disappointed about.

“Not as disappointed as I was not getting the role in the first Coming To America, but that actually turned out pretty good,” Snipes recalled in a new interview with Collider in the midst of promoting the film’s sequel, Coming 2 America. “Because I think if I had gotten the role [of Geordi] I would have been in television more than film,...

There is a long-standing tradition in Hollywood for "serious actors" to be seen as the ones who do drama, while comedy actors are often dismissed as being an inferior species of performers. Coming 2 America director Craig Brewer recently waded into the debate, particularly with respect to Eddie Murphy, who Brewer believes does not get enough credit for his comedy roles because he makes it all look too easy.

"It really bothers me. And I feel that it's even more stilted against Eddie because the problem that I think people have with Eddie is that they think that it's easy for him. I'm sure there are many things in Eddie's life that feel easy. But what people don't know is what I see, which is him sitting in his chair, in makeup, he's putting on music, he's getting into a place, he's rehearsing these lines -- you see him where...

Despite Coming 2 America receiving decidedly mixed reviews, the comedy sequel has already been a hugely successful release for Amazon, and now, star Eddie Murphy has revealed that he has plans for a third go-round...but don't hold your breath. Coming 2 America took a long time to make it to screens, and according to the comedian, the same would apply to Coming to America 3.

" There's an idea for a Coming to America 3 that I have, but it doesn't happen for 16 years. I have to be 75 to do it, and not make me up like 75 but really be 75."

Seeing as Coming 2 America took more than three decades to come to fruition, and considering the huge success the movie has seen so far, it's not too surprising to learn that Eddie Murphy would apply the same approach to Coming 3 America. No, wait, that doesn't work. Anyway, Coming to America 3 would...

For comedy fans of the '80s and '90s, there was no bigger name than Eddie Murphy. The talented comedian conquered the stand-up circuit with his legendary "Raw" and "Delirious" tours, and also conquered television with his stint on Saturday Night Live, before going on to star in a string of hit films. But Murphy's star dimmed around the 2000s, so much so that the actor recently admitted in an interview with Marc Maron that he quit acting because of all the awful reviews he was getting.

"I was making shitty movies. I was like, 'This shit ain't fun. They're giving me Razzies...Motherfuckers gave me the 'worst actor ever' Razzie. [So I thought], 'Maybe it's time to take a break. I was only gonna take a break for a year, then all of a sudden six years go by, and I'm sitting on the couch, and I could sit on the...

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“Coming 2 America” proves that audience are still itching to see Eddie Murphy onscreen, no matter how long he takes between films. In a recent interview promoting “Coming 2 America,” Murphy bluntly explained why he stopped acting for so many years. “I was making shitty movies,” he said. “I was like, ‘This shit ain’t fun. They’re giving me Razzies…Motherfuckers gave me the ‘worst actor ever’ Razzie. [So I thought], ‘Maybe it’s time to take a break.”

The film, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on March 5, picks up 30-plus years after the original. Prince Akeem (Murphy) is happily married to Lisa (Shari Headley), and living in Zamunda with his wife and three daughters.

The new comedy sequel Coming 2 America has been named as the most-watched streaming movie in a given weekend during the pandemic, this according to Amazon and the ratings firm Screen Engine/Asi. In October, Amazon picked up the rights to the anticipated movie for an exclusive streaming release on Amazon Prime. In a statement released on Monday, Head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke explained how it all paid off by touting the sequel's success.

"The Zamunda Royal family has arrived and audiences around the globe welcomed them enthusiastically! The premiere of Coming 2 America has far exceeded any of our wildest expectations," Salke said. "It's clear an entire new generation of fans have joined the enormous loyal fanbase who already adored the magical world created by global phenom Eddie Murphy, the incredibly talented filmmaking team and the hilarious, all-star cast of existing and newly-cemented legends. Coming 2 America is the perfectly fun,...

In its first weekend on Amazon Prime, Eddie Murphy’s “Coming 2 America” became the most-watched streaming film since movie theaters closed due to Covid-19 nearly a year ago, according to Amazon and Screen Engine/Asi.

The sequel to the ’80s comedy about an African prince traveling to New York to find true love topped “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge On The Run,” which was originally set for theatrical release but instead became a launch title for the new Paramount+ streaming service. “Coming 2 America” was also initially set to be a Paramount theatrical release, but was sold to Amazon as part of a series of sales of Paramount films to various streaming services.

Along with “Coming 2 America” and “Spongebob,” the top five most-watched streaming films of the weekend on Screen Engine’s charts were Netflix’s “To All the Boys: Always and Forever” and “I Care A Lot,” along...

The wait is finally over. Coming 2 America is here after 30 years since Coming to America first aired on our screens back in 1988. This is a sequel that we might never have asked for, but one we certainly needed. The film sees Eddie Murphy back in the role of Prince Akeem of Zamunda. On his 30th wedding anniversary to wife Lisa (played by the incredible Shari Headley), Akeem learns of a ‘bastard son’ he never knew he had. The prince must return to America (again) to meet his unexpected heir to the throne and create a bond with him for the sake of Zamunda’s future.

A lot can change in cinema after 30 years and you can definitely see that here. With technology being at its peak and the film probably having a slightly better budget than its predecessor, the film is more vibrant and bold than ever before. It...

Just like slipping into a bath with the royal bathers, Coming 2 America feels like welcome, familiar, and comfortable territory. The highly-anticipated sequel to the beloved 1988 comedy Coming to America, starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, and Shari Headley reunites almost every single member of the original cast (right down to Louis Anderson's lettuce-washing McDowell's employee) and delivers as many laughs as it does cameos from some of the most prominent Black entertainers working today.

Related: Why Fans Are Excited For Coming 2 America (& Why They're Skeptical)

In many ways, Coming 2 America is better than its predecessor, particularly in its growth for female characters, refined sense of humor, and expansive world-building. But as fun as it is to return to Zamunda, there are some glaring problems with the sequel, particularly when it tries recapturing the quirkiness of its predecessor without making its own statement.

After a decades long wait, Coming 2 America recently premiered on Amazon Prime Video, and many fans say it's Wesley Snipes who steals the show as new character General Izzi. Serving as a direct sequel to Coming to America, the new movie brings back Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall to reprise their many roles from the original. Even so, it appears to be the original character played by Snipes that a lot of viewers enjoyed seeing the most.

"Wesley Snipes stole the show for me! Him and is Step Team," one fan writes on Twitter.

#Coming2America Wesley Snipes stole the show for me! Him and is Step Team. pic.twitter.com/ww2vmjm7VK

— Ayokari Hoyes (@AyoSoJoyful) March 5, 2021

"The best part of this movie is Wesley Snipes. This man funny," another fan posted.

The best part of this movie is Wesley Snipes...

Craig Brewer is a white filmmaker not unaccustomed to Black-centered stories. Barring his 2000 indie debut, “The Poor & Hungry,” and his 2011 “Footloose” remake, his films predominantly feature African-American protagonists. Brewer based his Memphis-set Southern rap drama “Hustle & Flow” on his friendships with hip-hop artists Al Kapone, Juicy J, and DJ Paul. (John Singleton produced the film.) The blaxploitation-influenced “Black Snake Moan,” whose framed poster features a provocative, menacing Samuel L. Jackson standing over a chained daisy-duke wearing Christina Ricci, peaks from behind Brewer’s shoulder, while hanging on his wall.

Brewer is still riding high from his first Eddie Murphy collaboration — the widely successful “Dolemite Is My Name,” a light-hearted biopic of blaxploitation icon Rudy Ray Moore that garnered the best reviews of the filmmaker’s career while ushering a comeback for Murphy. An ‘80s cinema fanatic, “The Breakfast Club” and “Purple Rain” greatly impacted the Memphis filmmaker, as did...

Photo: ‘Coming 2 America’/Amazon Studios ‘Coming 2 America’ has an opening sequence that may strike you as old-fashioned, with its sweeping aerial footage, grand orchestral score, and fade-in-and-out credits. Of course, if you revisited the original ‘Coming to America’ in anticipation of its sequel, you’d see the immediate resemblance--the original opens in exactly the same way, except its painted-set Xanadu-esque depiction of Zamunda is replaced by modern CGI and Rick Ross’ Georgia megamansion. Much of the film pays direct homage to its predecessor in this way, and it’s actually quite charming to see such a thorough cast reunion after 33 years--not only do Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reprise their starring roles as Prince Akeem of Zamunda and confidante Semmi, but so do a myriad of supporting cast members including Shari Headley, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Louie Anderson, and Vanessa Bell Calloway. Even the film’s original writers returned,...

Coming 2 America (film on Amazon Prime); Cast: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Teyana Taylor, Wesley Snipes, James Earl Jones; Direction: Craig Brewer; Rating: * * and 1/2 (two and a half stars)

By Vinayak Chakravorty

You'd be okay with all that goes on if you loved the first film. Coming 2 America essentially tries to be more of the same. Which is what most sequels do, except that this one comes a good 33 years after the original released.

Back in 1988 when Coming To America released, Eddie Murphy was a superstar. Revisiting a brand of comedy that seemed cool over three decades ago can be a tough deal, and Murphy is obviously banking on his fan base of yore to sail through.

Well, one thing is clear. At 59, Murphy has lost none of the vim. He strikes vintage form with comic timing and reloads the infectious,...

Coming 2 America movie review is here. The 2021 American comedy film serves as a sequel to the original 1988 film starring Eddie Murphy. Directed by Craig Brewer from a screenplay by Kenya Barris, Barry W Blaustein and David Sheffield, Coming 2 America is based on characters created by Eddie Murphy. The second installment in the Coming to America film series stars Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Teyana Taylor, Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones.

Originally to be theatrically released by Paramount Pictures, the film's distribution rights were sold to Amazon Studios due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Coming 2 America is released on Prime Video on March 5, 2021.

Coming 2 America Movie Review

Those who have treasured the 1988 comedy which is now a classic on its own, some may even call it as a cult will obviously have a level of expectations from its...

Now that all that nasty February snow has finally melted away, many minds are filled with thoughts of travel, perhaps to an exotic destination. Or could you be yearning to revisit an old familiar spot, somewhere filled with laughter and dear friends from long ago? Sure with the vaccines rolling out, things are looking a lot brighter than last March (the last theatre advance screening was exactly a year to the weekend), but you may want to hold off before hitting those “getaway” websites. Why not combine those desires into a virtual reunion, mostly set in an exotic land that’s been in your movie dreams for nearly 33 years? That’s the major selling point for this weekend’s highly anticipated sequel. After his more-or-less traditional “final fade-out” happy ending in 1988, Prince Akeem boards the royal jet for Queens, NY for Coming 2 America.

For the most part, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy...

“Coming 2 America,” the long-awaited sequel to Eddie Murphy’s 1988 “Coming to America,” has released early on Amazon Prime. Originally, the pic was set to drop on the streaming service on Friday.

The sequel to John Landis’ hit comedy follows Prince Akeem (Murphy), who is set to become the king of the fictional country of Zamunda, an African kingdom untouched by colonialism, and finds out he has a son he never knew about — a street-savvy Queens native, Lavelle. To honor the former king’s (James Earl Jones) dying wish to raise his grandson as the crown prince, Akeem, and Semmi (Arsenio Hall), once again leave for America. The star-studded cast also includes Leslie Jones, Wesley Snipes and Shari Headley.

Originally set for release in theaters from Paramount Pictures, the film’s distribution rights were sold to Amazon Studios in October due to the pandemic.

The film has received mixed reviews so far,...

I don’t envy the job of anyone tasked with taking a classic Eighties comedy — Coming to America, say — and making a decades-later sequel that tries to please its guaranteed audience. Namely, everyone who loved the original, people who’ve rewatched it a million times, who have Soul Glo memes saved on their phones, who know every word to Sexual Chocolate’s song who — as in my case — grew up in families where Coming to America was probably the only consensus movie that everyone from my grandmother down to myself...

Before Wakanda, there was Zamunda, the fictional African kingdom Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem stood to inherit in “Coming to America.” As depicted in John Landis’ hit 1988 comedy, Zamunda was a country untouched by colonialism, where Black culture was celebrated as never before on-screen. In particular, its multifaceted showcase of African fashion, music and dance are exquisite, and throwaway jokes (like the Soul Glo TV spot) remain quotable to this day.

Alas, many critics dismissed the movie as a trite fairy tale at the time, failing to grasp the radical novelty that Zamunda represented to Black audiences. Thirty years later, they wouldn’t dare make the same mistake with “Black Panther,” recognizing that film’s exuberant Afrocentrism as what set it apart from other Marvel movies. But Eddie Murphy got there first, and now, in the golden years of the Golden Child’s career, the comic is cashing in once again.

Coming to America’s lovely opening shot descends through clouds, down to the fictional African country of Zamunda as Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s “Mbube (Wimoweh)” echoes across the vast horizon. It’s one of the most beautiful openings in a 1980s studio film, evoking a real sense of collective harmony in the most effortless way. The proceeding, foul-mouthed romantic comedy is of course anything but tranquil. Facing an arranged marriage he does not believe in, the nation’s pampered young prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) defies all cultural and traditional norms and visits Queens, NY, hoping to discover true love.

The flimsy narrative switcheroo concocted for its sequel, Coming 2 America—directed by Craig Brewer, who reunites with Murphy after Dolemite Is My Name—contains none of the original film’s overt criticism and anger about capitalism, greed, and consumerism. It doubles down on the fish-out-of-water scenario, this time involving Akeem and...

Every so often, we get sequels that move a story forward, that enrich beloved characters and the world they inhabit, or that upends and deconstructs the first movie entirely. But most of the time, we get safe, stodgy, repetitive follow-ups like “Coming 2 America,” which goes out of its way to make sure that every joke from the first movie comes out to take another bow.

If there’s any gag from 1988’s “Coming to America” that director Craig Brewer can’t reprise or restage, he will literally roll the clip from the first movie so we can take it in all over again. This feels less like a movie and more like one of those reunion specials where the cast of a beloved old TV show returns to play their characters again, recreating their pratfalls and repeating their catchphrases.

Viewers who weren’t amused by “Coming to America” certainly...

It’s hard to imagine a comedy like “Coming to America” getting made today, which means that only Eddie Murphy could resurrect it. Anyone unfamiliar with that movie’s legacy — and, 33 years on, those people are really missing out — will find “Coming 2 America,” the long-awaited followup, amusing in parts. Those who adore the original, however, will feel like they’ve been revisited by an old friend, or perhaps the dirty uncle, whose jokes are a bit frayed but still pointed enough. Produced at a time when big, brash studio comedies rarely crack the zeitgeist,

Released in 1988 at the height of Murphy’s popularity, “Coming to America” blended satire and fairy tale romance through the sheer power of Murphy’s screen presence. In director John Landis’ hands, the absurdist plight of the African prince from the fictional Zamunda, who bucks tradition by falling in love with an American woman he...

Murphy is back as the Zamundan prince seeking his son in the US, in this tired sequel to the 80s comedy hit

Did we need a sequel to Eddie Murphy’s fish-out-of-water 1980s romp Coming to America – with the word “to” transformed into a “2”? Will this trigger wacky sequel ideas for Bergman’s Face to Face, or Kurosawa’s To Live?

The original movie, directed by John Landis, had Murphy as the discontented Prince Akeem of the fictional African state Zamunda, obedient to his sonorous father the king (James Earl Jones), but yearning for a modern, independent-minded bride. So he travels to Queens, New York with his pal Semmi (whose name doesn’t get the obvious gag despite the nonstop sexual innuendo), played by Arsenio Hall. Posing as students, they encounter various latexed comedy characters – barbers, barbershop customers, etc, played by Murphy and Hall themselves – and Akeem finally finds happiness with Lisa,...

Plot: More than thirty years after first visiting the U.S, Zamunda’s newly crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) discovers that he has a long-lost American son. Meanwhile, he also has to contend with a neighboring warlord (Wesley Snipes), an angry wife (Shari Headley), and his more-than-capable daughter (Kiki Layne) who resents the country’s patriarchal rules of succession. Review: Coming to America is a tamer movie than you may remember. Sure, there were F-bombs and the royal bathers…...

Before watching Coming 2 America, try to think of some successful comedy sequels. If the best you can conjure up is Wayne’s World 2 or 22 Jump Street then that really speaks for itself, doesn’t it? More difficult than the traditional comedy sequel is the many-years-too-late variety of retread. Just ask Zoolander 2 or Dumb and Dumber To. Rehashing the same jokes and running them into the ground, reusing the old beloved catchphrases, and hitting the same story beats typically set comedy sequels up for failure, no matter how nostalgic audiences may be for the original. For every Borat 2, there are 10 Hangover 2s.

The team behind Coming 2 America knows this. They even acknowledge it with a joke in the movie. It’s obvious that the everyone involved with Coming 2 America, including returning stars Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, director Craig Brewer, and screenwriters Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein,...

In the first of a new series called Ranked!, I check out the films of Eddie Murphy – running down his very best to his very worst… All in anticipation of the release of Coming 2 America, which is released tomorrow, Friday March 5th 2021, streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

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.

Coming 2 America is directed by Craig Brewer and stars Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, with Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones; and John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Paul Bates, Nomzamo Mbatha, and Bella Murphy.

Also check out our coverage of Coming 2 America right here.

When one thinks about 1988’s Coming to America, a few things stand out: James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair as the King and Queen of Zamunda speaking to their son Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) at a breakfast table with intercom radios; the opulence of Zamunda’s palace, which represented an idealized African nation to 1980s audiences the way Wakanda does today; and of course Murphy and Arsenio Hall’s Semmi fresh off the plane in Queens, New York with no idea what “common” means—or also Murphy and Hall under pounds of makeup as the argumentative old-timers at the nearby barbershop.

The film has many great elements that make it a comedy classic. However, what’s often overlooked is that the picture is not-so-secretly part of a shared cinematic universe. Indeed, Coming to America is the film which confirmed several of director John Landis’ films all occur in the same...

Amazon Studios film and highly anticipated sequel, Coming 2 America, is releasing globally exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on March 5th.

Wamg has codes for the advance virtual screening this Thursday, March 4th at 7pm Ct for Ten lucky winners.

#Coming2America

Enter for your chance to win a code to watch from home!

Leave you name and email address in the comments section below.

No purchase necessary. Open to U.S. residents only. Rated PG 13

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. Original cast favorites from Coming to America return including King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), Queen Lisa (Shari Headley), Cleo McDowell (John Amos), Maurice (Louie Anderson...

Coming 2 America stars Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones, Wesley Snipes, Jermaine Fowler, Bella Murphy and KiKi Layne reenact the original comedy’s “Soul Glo” ad in this bonus clip ahead of the film’s global premiere March 5th on Amazon Prime Video.

In Coming to America, Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem vied for the affections of Lisa against Eriq La Salle’s Darryl, the heir to Soul Glo; a commercial for the Jheri curl-inducing hair products that plays through a store window during the film and inspires Akeem to cut his hair to woo Lisa.

Mumbai, Feb 25: Bella Murphy, daughter of Hollywood star Eddie Murphy is all set to make her big screen debut alongside her father in the upcoming film, 'Coming 2 America'.

The film is a sequel to the Eddie Murphy-starrer of 1988, 'Coming To America'. Nineteen-year-old newcomer Bella says the original film shaped her humour.

In 2021 sequel, Bella plays the role of Omma, who is calm, cool and, as she notes, "royal, but not too stuffy". Omma is the type of person who analyses a situation before she reacts.

Bella saw the original film when she was just 11. "I remember it being really funny to watch. It shaped a lot of my humor, too. I'm really passionate about pursuing acting, so when my dad told me about this part, I was excited about auditioning and also, training for the role. It was fun to do it all with him,...

The upcoming sequel to the 1988 classic Coming to America is set to feature an illustrious cast of black actors from several generations. Leading the charge is Eddie Murphy, returning in the role of Akeem Joffer, who discovers he has a secret son. In an interview with CinemaBlend, Murphy revealed that the original plan had been for none other than Tracy Morgan to play his long-lost son, until the fact that Morgan is only seven years younger than Murphy forced the production to look for a replacement.

"In the original idea, Tracy Morgan was gonna be my son. Three years into writing it, Tracy was the son, still. What changed was, we met with Tracy a couple times and it was like "Tracy looks the same age as me. How are we going to make this believable. How are we gonna make this be right? Tracy can't be Leslie's [Jones] son. So...

Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan make up one of the best director-actor collaborations working today thanks to their critically acclaimed features “Fruitvale Station,” “Creed,” and “Black Panther,” but it turns out a potential fourth project was rejected by none other than Eddie Murphy. In an interview with The New York Times, Murphy reveals he rejected an idea for a “Coming to America” sequel cracked by Coogler.

“[Coogler] had an idea for Michael B. Jordan to play my son and he would be looking for a wife,” Murphy said. “I was like, then the movie would be about the son, it’s not our characters, we already did that. It didn’t come together.”

Neither Murphy nor anyone involved with the original “Coming to America” expected to make a sequel during the production and release of the movie. “The way the story ended was kind of like, ‘And they lived happily ever after,...

It's been more than thirty years since we last caught up with Akeem (Eddie Murphy), Semmi (Arsenio Hall), Lisa (Shari Headley), King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), and the rest of Zamunda in Coming to America, but the much-anticipated sequel will finally debut on Amazon Prime Video next week. Coming 2 America will find Akeem, now the newly-crowned King of Zamunda, and his…...

Before Black Panther introduced mainstream pop culture to the delights of the nation of Wakanda, there was the nation of Zamunda, which featured prominently in the Eddie Murphy-led 1988 classic Coming to America. Now, as Murphy prepares to serve up the sequel to the hit film, more than three decades later, the actor explained to Essence magazine how important it was to him that the sequel be a worthy follow-up to the world showcased in the original film.

"Coming to America is one of my films that has really worked its way into the culture. People get dressed up as the characters for Halloween, and they still walk around saying catchphrases like 'Sexual Chocolate.' All of that stuff just kind of stayed around-like Randy Watson doing the very first mic drop... The one thing that I didn't want to do was a bad sequel to a movie that a...

"Coming 2 America is a cool continuation of that story and I want people to have a great experience while watching it," says Eddie Murphy ahead the much-awaited sequel of Coming To America on Amazon Prime Video

Released in 1988, Coming To America, the American rom-com that featured the comical and charming Eddie Murphy received love and appreciation from film critics and viewers alike. The movie gave Eddie a loyal fan base worldwide, across many generations, making him one of the best actors in Hollywood in the genre of comedy. 33 years later, Eddie Murphy is back as Akeem with the sequel to the cult classic. Titled Coming 2 America, the romantic comedy is all set for a global premiere on March 5th 2021 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

Talking about the sequel, Eddie Murphy says, "In Coming To America, an African prince travels to America to find a regular girl and he...

"Coming 2 America" is the comedy feature sequel to "Coming To America" (1988) , directed by Craig Brewer, based on characters created by Eddie Murphy, starring Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, Teyana Taylor, Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones, streaming March 5, 2021 on Amazon Prime Video:

"...set after the events of the first film, former 'Prince Akeem Joffer' (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 (James Earl Jones) whose dying wish is to groom this son as the crown prince, Akeem and 'Semmi' (Arsenio Hall) set off to America once again..."

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As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cruised to their first Super Bowl victory since 2002 Sunday night, the commercial breaks — as they often do — provided a bit of bonus entertainment.

As always, an array of trailers aired during the big game, and while the ongoing pandemic means there’s still a cloud of doubt hanging over blockbuster season 2021 (at least in the non-streaming service world), Hollywood still had plenty to tease, from Eddie Murphy’s Coming 2 America to the latest installment in the Fast and Furious franchise. Below is a list...

Amazon gifted the Super Bowl audience with a new trailer for Coming 2 America. Eddie Murphy and crew are back to bring Zamunda to the rest of the world. Just don't mistakenly call it Wakanda. Murphy is back playing multiple characters, just like he did in the iconic original movie, while introducing a brand-new generation to Akeem and Semmi. 2021 is the perfect time for the long-awaited sequel, and thankfully, we don't have to wait too much longer to see it.

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. Original cast favorites from Coming to America return including King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), Queen Lisa (Shari Headley), Cleo...

"I shall bring queens to Zamunda!" Amazon debuted a short Super Bowl TV spot for Coming 2 America, the long-awaited sequel to the beloved comedy classic Coming to America from 1988. We featured the full-length official trailer last week, and this new TV spot adds in a few bits of new footage.. Akeem learns he has a long-lost son in the United States and must return to America to meet the unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda. This "hilarious adventure" has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall both return as Akeem and Semmi again, joined by Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, with Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones, as well as John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Nomzamo Mbatha, Paul Bates, and Bella Murphy. This just doesn't look as good as it should,...

Coming 2 America Trailer 2 — Amazon Prime Video has released the second movie trailer for Coming 2 America (2021). View here the first Coming 2 America trailer. Cast and crew Craig Brewer‘s Coming 2 America stars Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, Garcelle Beauvais, Clint Smith, [...]

Continue reading: Coming 2 America Trailer 2: Eddie Murphy & Arsenio Hall Return to Familiar Roles in the 2021 Sequel on Amazon...

The first track from the forthcoming “Coming 2 America” soundtrack is “I’m A King,” an original song by Grammy-nominated rappers Bobby Sessions and Megan Thee Stallion. It premieres tomorrow (Feb. 5).

“From watching Coming to America as a kid in Pleasant Grove to being apart of the #Coming2America trailer!! Manifestation is Real,” Sessions wrote in a tweet.

The track comes ahead of the full “Coming 2 America” soundtrack, set to release on March 5. The full track list has yet to be revealed, though it will play a major role in the film like in the original. The 1988 comedy favorite was fueled by music from the likes of Cover Girls, Chico DeBarge, Mel and Kim and Sister Sledge. The titular song, co-written by Nile Rodgers and performed by synth pop duo The System, charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Coming 2 America” debuts on Amazon Prime Video the same day as its soundtrack.