Eddie Murphy “over the moon” about upcoming Coming to America sequel

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

With this Fall's DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, Eddie Murphy demonstrated that he's still more than capable of delivering dynamite dramatic performances. Moreover, the Rudy Ray Moore biopic showcased Murphy's penchant for edgy comedy, a genre he helped define in the 1980s with classics like 48 HOURS, TRADING PLACES, and BEVERLY HILLS COP. One of Murphy's seminal works from that same decade was 1988's COMING TO AMERICA, a film that's still quoted by film aficionados to this day. Fans of the original were thrilled to learn earlier this year that a sequel, COMING 2 AMERICA, was in the works. That film is currently filming and Murphy recently shared an update on the upcoming comedy with his SHREK 2 co-star Antonio Banderas for Variety's annual "Actors on Actors" segment. In the segment, Eddie Murphy commented on connecting two stories separated by over three decades:

“I figured out a way to connect the dots — there has to be some kind of record, I don’t know if there’s ever been a sequel 30 years afterward — that’s what we’re doing now,. I’m just over the moon how it’s turning out. I used the same director that I used for ‘Dolemite Is My Name’ and some of the actors. [Dolemite] went so well that we just wound up on this next project.”

The director in question is Craig Brewer, whose works also include the Academy Award nominated HUSTLE & FLOW and often memed BLACK SNAKE MOAN starring Samuel L. Jackson. COMING 2 AMERICA will also see DOLEMITE IS MY NAME alum Wesley Snipes join the fray. The actor, who played the fey D'Urville Martin alongside Murphy's Moore, will play the villainous General Eazie in the upcoming film. COMING 2 AMERICA will have Murphy's Prince Akeem Joffer discovering, "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 (Arsenio Hall) set off to America once again^."

Now obviously Eddie Murphy isn't going to say anything negative about a film that's currently in production, so take his comments with a grain of salt. However, I feel very confident in the fact that both Craig Brewer and Wesley Snipes are involved. COMING TO AMERICA is a beloved comedy classic so let's hope Murphy and company can capture lightning in a bottle a second time.

COMING 2 AMERICA starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Shari Headley, James Earl Jones, Tracy Morgan, Wesley Snipes, and Louie Anderson laughs its way into theaters December 18, 2020.