Coming 2 America

"A sequel is in the heir."

2021 1h 48m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 2,453

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Prince Akeem Joffer 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. Honoring his royal father's dying wish to groom this son as the crown prince, Akeem and Semmi set off to America once again.

“A sequel is in the heir.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon Prime VideoSubscription

Amazon Prime Video with AdsSubscription

Cast

Eddie Murphy
Prince Akeem / Clarence / Saul / Randy Watson
Arsenio Hall
Semmi / Morris / Reverend Brown / Baba
Jermaine Fowler
Lavelle Junson
Leslie Jones
Mary Junson
Tracy Morgan
Uncle Reem
KiKi Layne
Meeka
Shari Headley
Lisa
Wesley Snipes
General Izzi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Craig Brewer
Writers: Kenya Barris, David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 5 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Coming to America Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

201+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Craig Brewer, shot by Jody Williams. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jermaine Stegall. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David S. Clark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall and Jermaine Fowler carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Craig Brewer directs. Jody Williams behind the camera. Jermaine Stegall scores. David S. Clark cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 5 years ago.
3Part of the "Coming to America Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4201+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Craig Brewer, shot by Jody Williams. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jermaine Stegall. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor David S. Clark shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall and Jermaine Fowler carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A sequel is in the heir.".
10IMDB entry: tt6802400 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jody Williams
Original score: Jermaine Stegall
Editing: David S. Clark
Production design: Jefferson Sage
Costume design: Ruth E. Carter
Makeup / hair: Mike Marino
VFX supervisor: Aldo Ruggiero
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $60,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Coming 2 America (2021)

Part of

Coming to America Collection

Coming to America is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also starred in the lead role. The film also co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, and John Amos. Eddie Murphy plays 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. A sequel, Coming 2 America, was released on March 4, 2021.

Also by

Craig Brewer

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2021-03-07
★ 6/10
Fun reunion, but pales in comparison to the first movie Three decades after the original film, Akeem (Eddie Murphy) discovers that he needs to go back to America with Semmi (Arsenio Hall). The principal cast members return with some new characters played by Jermaine Fowler, Tracy Morgan, Nomzamo Mbatha and KiKi Layne. “Coming 2 America” (2021) is nowhere near as good as the first movie (which is probably my all-time favorite comedy), but it is fun to see where the characters are at after over thirty years, not to mention what they look like. There are four things that hold the flick back: It seems like it’s in a hurry, peppered with music videos, not to mention it’s noticeably goofier than the original. It’s afraid to slow down for some compelling or heartwarming drama. When they do, like with Lavelle (Jermaine) and Mirembe (Nomzamo), it works and you start get drawn into the characters, but then it cuts to another crazed scene. Secondly, Akeem isn’t as likable or funny here, whether that’s because of Eddie’s low-energy, mediocre writing or simply Akeem being stifled by tradition, I don’t know; probably a combination. Thirdly, the trip to New York City comes and goes so this isn’t really much of a Coming to America 2. The focus is on Zamunda, which is fine, but the story needed more interesting ideas and writing. Lastly, I liked Jermaine Fowler as Lavelle Junson; he has charisma, but he pales in comparison to Murphy as Akeem in the first movie. The creators needed to spend more time fleshing out the potential of Jermaine and his character. Despite these shortcomings, “Coming 2 America” is still worth catching if you’re a fan of the original flick. It’s great to see all the old characters and there are some amusing and entertaining moments; for instance, the early bit with Bopoto (Teyana Taylor), which made me bust out laughing. The film runs 1 hour, 48 minutes, and was shot in Atlanta, Georgia, and New York City. GRADE: B-/C+
tmdb280390232022-08-28
★ 1/10
Before it even begins, Coming 2 America already has five strikes. It integrates a number in its misleading title (most of the action takes place in Zamunda), it arrives three decades after the original, the plot revolves around a son that the protagonist did not know he had, its content has been sanitized to reach a wider public, and its stars are, albeit briefly, digitally de-aged. This means that C2A has at least one thing in common with 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Odd Couple II, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Expendables 3, and The Irishman. This is not good company. We learn that Zamunda has a neighboring country called Nextdoria. This name perfectly illustrates the creative bankruptcy of director Craig Brewer (though any filmmaker is better than notorious infanticide John Landis, who directed the original) and screenwriters Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein, and David Sheffield. It baffles the mind that it took three people to write a film in which what passes for humor is, for example, Akeem (Eddie Murohy) constantly and cheerfully calling his son a “bastard.” Swearing is not funny in and of itself; it requires context. In Coming to America, it was funny when Akeem used, unaware of its meaning, foul language because, ironically, he intended to be polite; it’s quite a stretch, however, for him to be oblivious of the offensive connotation of the word ‘bastard.’ And speaking of offensive connotations, another source of quote-unquote comedy is the cultural clash between the refined royals of Zamunda and Lavelle’s (Akeem’s illegitimate son) uncouth family; Lavelle’s mother Mary and Uncle Reem are played respectively by Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan, so you can be sure there is no shortage of stereotypical African-American behavior. C2A is not entirely devoid of pleasures, but these are few and far between. For instance, there's an appearance by En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa performing their 1993 hit “Whatta Man” with reworked lyrics – but the best thing about the movie is by far Wesley Snipes's performance as General Izzi (older brother of Imani, Akeem's original fiancée). Snipes easily steals every scene he’s in, even outshining Murphy and Hall. The rest is pure nostalgia, and the movie is indeed firmly rooted in the values of the 80s. There is a nod to gender equality when Akeem changes the tradition of royal succession to allow his eldest daughter to rule Zamunda upon his death; he conveniently forgets, on the other hand, to abolish that other tradition, dating back to the original film, according to which kings and princes are bathed by attractive young women who, as we remember from Coming to America, had to be sexually subservient (not to mention that poor Imani is still hopping in one leg and barking like a dog as Akeem cruelly ordered her to decades ago).