Described as a “labor of love” by its leading actor, “Coming 2 America,” a sequel to a 1980s classic, has been highly anticipated for years. On Friday, fans of the original “Coming to America” were granted access to the sequel, which stars comedians Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.
Amazon Prime Video premiered the PG-13 comedy on its platform Friday, and it instantly became the trending topic on Twitter throughout the day. It is considered an iconic film for Black culture, becoming the first blockbuster film with an all-Black cast, according to Murphy.
“The original ‘Coming to America,’ the very first one, is the first movie in the history of movies that had an all-Black cast that was successful all around the world,” Murphy said in a recent interview. “The very first one ever. There’s just a handful of movies that have had all-Black casts that have been successful all around the world.”
The sequel is slated to make its mark in a cinematic world that has most of its releases on streaming platforms as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. “Coming 2 America” follows King Akeem (Murphy) and his trusted confidant Semmi (Hall) as they return to America from their country of Zamunda to search for Akeem’s long-lost son in Queens. Others who were in the original film and made a return are James Earl Jones (King Jaffe Joffer), John Amos (Cleo McDowell) and Louie Anderson (Maurice).
Thursday, ahead of the premiere, Murphy shared his thanks in a video to the cast, crew and fans who made the film possible. He told fans with the original film being “so special,” his goal was to capture that same spirit.
“I would like to say thank you to all the fans all around the world who embraced the original ‘Coming to America,’ " Murphy said. “I want to give a special shout-out to the crew of ‘Coming 2 America’ for helping us bring this continuation to life.”
Several fans of the movie franchise, including a few famous ones, showed their appreciation for the sequel Friday. One of those famous fans of the new film was Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
Not everyone was a fan of the sequel, though. Some were still more fond of the original.
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