#Eddie Murphy is Back – /Film

Eddie Murphy returns to one of his most memorable roles with Coming 2 America, the long-awaited sequel to his 1988 hit. The sequel finds Murphy’s King Akeem once again setting out on a journey to America, and brings back familiar faces from the first film like Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Louie Anderson, and more. Craig Brewer, who directed Murphy in the excellent Dolemite Is My Name, helms the sequel. A new Coming 2 America trailer has arrived ahead of the film’s March release – watch it below.

Coming 2 America Trailer

It’s been a long time since Coming to America hit theaters, and returning to a film – even a beloved film – so many years later is often a recipe for disaster. But people are no doubt going to be excited to check out Coming 2 America, since it has Eddie Murphy reprising one of his most popular roles. And while Murphy’s film output for the last few years has been a bit rocky, the recent Dolemite Is My Name proved he’s still just as funny now as he was in his glory days.

Here’s the official synopsis for Coming 2 America: “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 goes even further into what we can expect from the sequel:

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

The full cast includes Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, with Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones. Also starring John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Paul Bates, Nomzamo Mbatha, and Bella Murphy, with Craig Brewer directing a script from Kenya Barris and Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield.
I sincerely hope Coming 2 America turns out to be worth the wait. When Murphy is on, he’s really on, and the results can be hilarious. That said, I’m slightly apprehensive about the film being rated PG-13. I’m not saying a comedy needs to be R-rated to be successful, but I think we can all agree that Murphy is at his funniest when he’s not constrained. Then again, Murphy’s PG-13-rated Nutty Professor was a huge hit, so what the hell do I know? At the very least, Murphy is clearly committed to this film, as he’s been talking about making it for several years now.

Coming 2 America will hit Amazon Prime Video on March 5, 2021.

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