Why Amazon Prime Debuts ‘Coming To America’ One Day Early in the U.S.- The sequel to the 1988 comedy ‘Coming to America’ was meant to drop on March 5. But Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall’s latest Zamunda-to-New York City adventure with Coming 2 America has dropped one day early on Amazon Prime in the U.S.
The sequel to the 1988 comedy Coming to America was to have dropped on March 5, but showed up Thursday on the streaming platform.
Coming 2 America sees Prince Akeem (Murphy), now set to become king, discovering he has a son he never knew about, a street-savvy Queens native named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler). Honoring his father’s dying wish to groom his son as a newly crowned prince, Akeem must return to America.
Coming 2 America is premiering on Amazon Prime Video both in the U.S. and more than 240 countries worldwide. The long-awaited sequel to the classic comedy is the latest Hollywood event pic to bypass a traditional theatrical release amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
It originally had been set to hit the big screen in December 2020. Amazon Studios revealed the release date in November 2020 along with officially announcing it had closed a deal with Paramount Pictures to acquire worldwide rights to the comedy.
In addition to Murphy, original cast favorites from Coming to America include James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, John Amos and the motley barbershop crew. Newcomers include Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Fowler, Bella Murphy, Rotimi, KiKi Layne, Nomzamo Mbatha and Teyana Taylor.