Coming to America, the classic 1988 comedy starring Eddie Murphy as an African prince traveling incognito to Queens to find true love, is getting a sequel more than 30 years after its initial release. Murphy will return in the role of Akeem, who in this movie comes back to the US to meet his long lost son and heir to his nation’s throne.
Deadline reports that Paramount Pictures has signed on Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) to helm Coming to America 2. The filmmaker intends to reunite Murphy with the the rest of the original cast, which includes Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos, and James Earl Jones.
Kenya Barris is currently rewriting a script penned by the original film’s screenwriters Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, with production set to begin sometime in 2019. Brewer just wrapped up working with Murphy on Dolemite Is My Name, a biographical film on comedian Rudy Ray Moore that will be released later this year on Netflix.
In a statement, Murphy said, “After many years of anticipation, I’m thrilled that Coming to America 2 is officially moving forward. We’ve assembled a great team that will be led by Craig Brewer, who just did an amazing job on Dolemite, and I’m looking forward to bringing all these classic and beloved characters back to the big screen.”
