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Coming to America
IT IS more than three decades since Eddie Murphy introduced Prince Akeem Joffer to the silver screen.
And now the character is getting another outing, as a highly-anticipated sequel lands on Amazon Prime Video.
Once again set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, the new film, Coming 2 America, sees newly-crowned King Akeem and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall), make another hilarious trip to New York from their great African nation.
Many familiar faces from the original movie are returning, such as James Earl Jones and Shari Headley, but there are some new cast members too – Wesley Snipes, Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones, Jermaine Fowler and Teyana Taylor to name a few.
For Florida-born Wesley Snipes, the role has been a long time coming.
“I auditioned for a part during the original and didn’t get it – lost out to the great Eriq La Salle, who’s also a friend of mine,” says the 58-year-old, who plays General Izzi in Coming 2 America.
“I lamented over the fact that I wasn’t cast but loved the movie, loved the regalia, loved the production, loved the acting, loved seeing Africa in that light, in that way. And, yeah, it was a wonderful thing.
“Never thought it would come around again, and I get a chance to make up for that, what I call one of the first Ls, when I took the L back in the eighties. It all worked out wonderfully.”
Back to the plot of Coming 2 America and, as King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones) nears the end of his life and talk turns to heirs to the throne, he reveals some shocking news to his son.
It turns out Prince Akeem, who now has three beautiful daughters with his wife Lisa (Shari Headley), has a long-lost son in Queens.
And so, to tend to this unfinished royal family business, he must return to America.
It is always a treat to witness 59-year-old Murphy, arguably the most commercially successful African-American actor in the history of the motion picture business, on screen.
After beginning his career as a stand-up comedian, and joining the cast of Saturday Night Live, New York-born Murphy went on to have a huge variety of memorable film roles.
There is the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, his award-winning turn in musical drama Dreamgirls, family comedies like Dr Dolittle – and let us not forget he voiced the character of Donkey in the Shrek films.
He actually plays four characters in Coming 2 America – Prince Akeem/Clarence/Saul/Randy Watson – a film which, according to producer Kevin Misher, only came together when Murphy felt the time was right.
The actor rang up screenwriter Barry W Blaustein – who, along with his writing partner, David Sheffield, has collaborated with the actor since his early days on Saturday Night Live – and explained his idea to revisit Akeem as an older man with a family.
“In Coming To America, an African prince travels to America to find a regular girl and he brings her back to make her his princess. It’s a modern fairytale that a lot of people love and, also, it was the very first time they ever had a movie with black folks, where you had kings and queens,” says Murphy.
“This film is a really cool continuation of that story and I want people to have a great experience while watching it.”
Coming 2 America also shows a different side of producer, actor and martial artist Snipes – who is known for dramatic roles on Broadway, as well as films White Men Can’t Jump, Demolition Man, and the Blade trilogy – as we see him flex muscles.
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