‘Coming To America 2’ Heads To Amazon As Theaters Take Another Big Hit

Coming to America 2 may not be the first movie you think of when the subject of future blockbusters comes up, but it’s the sequel to a comedy classic that people have literally been waiting decades for. Theater owners, especially in this depleted landscape, were certainly looking forward to it, as well. But they’ve just been dealt another cruel blow, as Amazon has swooped in to secure the Eddie Murphy film for a whopping sum.

Variety reports that Amazon Studios is in final talks with Paramount to secure the rights for Coming to America 2, in a deal that could be worth $125M and include marketing tie-ins with Crown Royal and McDonald’s. No, not McDowell’s. The film would then hit Amazon Prime video on December 18th, rather than in theaters on Christmas Day as it was previously.

Coming to America 2 is a sequel to the 1988 film, with Murphy returning to the role of now-King Akeem, who learns he has a son in the U.S. that he never knew about, and must journey there to groom him to be the crown prince.

Pretty much everybody from the first movie returns, including Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, and James Earl Jones. Jermaine Fowler plays Akeem’s son, with Kiki Layne as his first daughter, and Leslie Jones as the boy’s mother. Tracy Morgan, Wesley Snipes, and Rick Ross are also in the cast.

So yeah, theater owners are taking it on the chin. There are now only a handful of big money-earning movies left in 2020, and they are not guaranteed to stay where they are.

 

 

 

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.