Sequels and reboots are a dime a dozen these days, so it’s hard to be genuinely excited about one, but having said that, we are pretty much besides ourselves at the announcement that there’s a Coming To America 2 happening, with Eddie Murphy returning to the lead role.
The original Coming To America was a hit all the way back in 1988 – aka, the era when Eddie Murphy still made unquestionably good movies. He starred as Akeem, a pampered African prince who went undercover in Queens, New York to escape an arranged marriage and find a woman to love.
Overnight, Murphy made a statement about the new film project, saying:
“After many years of anticipation, I’m thrilled that Coming to America 2 is officially moving forward. We’ve assembled a great team that will be led by Craig Brewer, who just did an amazing job on Dolemite, and I’m looking forward to bringing all these classic and beloved characters back to the big screen.”
Per a plot description of the upcoming film on Deadline:
“Akeem learns about a long lost son, and must return to America to meet his unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda.”
It is hoped that the sequel will reunite the original Coming To America cast, including Arsenio Hall as Akeem’s sidekick Semmi, Shari Headley as his love interest Lisa, John Amos as Lisa’s dad and James Earl Jones as his own father, the king.
The writers of the original film, Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, have written a script for the sequel, and it’s currently undergoing rewrites by Kenya Barris of Black-ish. It is hoped that production on the film will kick off this year.
