There are few things that look more taken straight out of the 80’s and 90’s than an Eddie Murphy movie where the comedy legend plays several characters. 2020 was the year where Murphy was set to go back to what made him great, and it all started with his 2019 Emmy-winning appearance on SNL, which was supposed to be followed by his return to stand-up comedy and his film Coming 2 America.
However, due to the ongoing pandemic, Murphy’s plans were thwarted in more than one way, with stand-up now being a limited outlet and Coming 2 America caught in the wave of delays and straight-to-VOD films. Coming 2 America was supposed to hit theaters this Christmas, but instead those looking forward to watching the movie will now have to settle for a trailer.
Coming 2 America brings back many of the characters seen in its first iteration, with the plot following Prince Hakeem (Murphy) from the fictional African nation of Zamunda, whose ailing father (James Earl Jones) tells him he must go back to America to look for a male heir to the throne, since his daughter from his first love Lisa (Shari Headley) is not eligible for the crown.
The film did a great job at bringing back the core cast of characters from the original Coming to America, with Arsenio Hall, John Amos, and Garcelle Beauvais returning, as well as adding new talent in Leslie Jones (SNL), Tracy Morgan, and Wesley Snipes. Though the trailer doesn’t say too much about the plot it does make clear that Murphy and Hall are coming back to New York with all their hilarious characters like Sexual Chocolate frontman Randy Watson, barbershop Clarence, Reverend Brown, the McDowell’s franchise, and many other blasts from the past.
After the success and attention Borat 2 managed to bring to Amazon Prime Video, the company will likely want to see what kind of performance they can get out of the $120m they paid to Paramount Pictures for the rights to Coming 2 America, which will premiere on their platform on March 5, 2021.
Despite that, Paramount still has plans to bring Coming 2 America to selected theaters around the world, so get ready to test the waters of political correctness as Morris the barber would say.
Coming 2 America will be available on Amazon Prime Video starting March 5, 2021.
Source: Amazon Prime Video|YouTube