When Eddie Murphy first came to America, he was, without a doubt, the funniest man in America.
Murphy was at the height of his fame, coming off Beverly Hills Cop II and the stand-up Raw special. They were at times strong. Arsenio Hall, Murphy’s longtime friend and co-star in Coming to America, remembers them going out on the hunt to a nightclub in Hollywood while they were still dressed as Prince Akeem and his loyal supporter Semmi. ‘We were crazy,’ said Hall.
The ’80s, Murphy says, are “very sad.”
“I was so young, everything was happening. You take it all in stride when you are young, as successful as I was, ”says Murphy, speaking with Zoom with a shelf of image awards behind him. “Now I don’t accept anything as a donation and I value everything.”
Thirty-three years after coming to America, Murphy and Hall have returned to Zamunda. The sequel, which was slated to hit theaters last year, was sold due to the pandemic by Paramount Pictures to Amazon, where it began streaming on Friday.
It’s unlike a blockbuster comedy, one that belongs so completely to the late 80s that even the sequel tries to keep some of the spirit of that era. (Several famous R&B and hip-hop groups make cameos.) Arrive 2 America, led by Craig Brewer, returns the fishmong out of the water to take Queens to Zamunda after for Akeem to learn that he killed a son (Jermaine Fowler) on the first one. visit New York.
Some elements have been updated. There is a conspiracy of female empowerment; KiKi Layne plays Akeem’s daughter. At the workshop, where Murphy and Hall retell their characters, the conversation kicks off from Teslas to transgender people.
“We had a version where they were wearing MAGA hats and they were Republicans,” Murphy said. “It was funny but it was like, eh, we won’t even let you go.”
Instead, Murphy and his colleagues – including writers Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield and Kenya Barris – felt that Coming to America ‘s main claim lies in its fairy tale concept.
“It’s the only movie I’ve ever made that had a cult following,” Murphy said. “We had completely forgotten about ‘Coming to America. ‘Then this film took on this life in culture. It became like a cult movie. Lines from the film became captures. People let their sons down now. Randy Watson is the first drop son from ‘Coming to America. ‘”
Coming to America has certainly played a significant role in culture since 1988. McDowell’s fast food restaurants – the product that came from McDonald’s from the film – have made brief appearances in Los Angeles and Chicago. Beyoncé and Jay-Z were once dressed up as characters from the movie for Halloween.
But the film directed by John Landis was also a huge success when it was released. It was the second highest grossing domestic film in 1988 with $ 128.2 million in tickets sold – nearly twice what Die Hard made that year. Globally, it grew $ 288.8 million, or more than $ 630 million adjusted for inflation.
A Murphy, that is the legacy of the film.
“‘Coming to America’ is the first film in the history of films that had an all-black team that traveled the world,” says Murphy. “They will not deliver as it is – about Selma and Martin Luther King and civil injustice, no matter what the story in America. They don’t provide like that – about that all over the world.
“It’s not about being black. It’s about love and family and tradition and doing the right thing, ”adds Murphy. “If ‘Black Panther’ was around the hood, people wouldn’t have seen ‘Black Panther’ all over the world.”
Many of the connections between Coming to America and Black Panther are both rare images of Black royalty and mythical Africa. Prior to joining Black Panther, Murphy is said to have spoken to Ryan Coogler about a series coming to America. At the production of Black Panther, Lupita Nyong’o (who was not a fan of coming to America for the cliché of Africans) and other members of a birthday party throw came to America. Ruth E. Carter designed clothes for both Black Panther and Coming 2 America. Both were killed in Atlanta.
“I’ve told people, ‘Now Zamunda is not a real place, right?’ Said Brewer. “And I say, ‘No, of course it’s a real place. I believe it is just northeast of Wakanda. ”
Work on the script for Coming 2 America went on for four years but shooting started quickly. Murphy first proposed Brewer direct Coming 2 America at a dinner with John Singleton after a test screening of My Name Is Dolemite, the Rudy Ray Moore biopic that helped revive Murphy for 59 years.
“‘Coming to America’ was one of my favorite films when I was a teenager,” said Brewer, speaking from his home in Memphis, Tenn. help but just say ‘Yes! ”Immediately. Then it was clear to me that this is going to be, like, now. ”
Coming 2 America also reconnects the great comic chemistry between Murphy and Hall. Murphy thinks the close friends have seen each other two or three times a week for 40 years. But they went decades before they talked about a series.
“Suddenly I’m reading this script I love and I realize this film didn’t think we were going to make a sequel to it, we’re about to go to Atlanta – that’s Africa America, ”Hall said.
The photograph was taken at the sound levels of Tyler Perry Studios, with the nearby Rick Ross mansion serving as Zamunda Palace. The film reunites most of the old team – including James Earl Jones, John Amos and Shari Headley – and includes many others, including Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones and Tracy Morgan. Hall, who had been standing up with Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, felt like everyone wanted in.
“One day in the dressing room, Dave is like, ‘I heard I was doing’ Coming to America 2. ‘I said,’ Yes, man. ‘ He said, ‘I want to be there,’ ‘Hall recalls. (A recording conflict ensued and the multifunctional Hall, which has four roles in the film, ended up playing Chappelle ‘s potential witch doctor.)
Some things have changed over time. This arrival in America is rated PG-13. Murphy was just 27 when he made Coming to America. He now has ten children and a grandchild. His daughter, Bella, plays a small role in the film.
“He joked about it on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ about Cosby and who America’s favorite father is now. But there’s something to that, ”said Brewer. “If you’ve ever been around Eddie and his children – and now his grandson – you’ll see that he really is a man who loves his family and doesn’t need constant public affirmation and respect. to find out who he is. “
Family life is evident in the new Murphy stand-up material. It was long ago expected to return to performance in 2020 before the pandemic struck. These plans were not postponed; when performance returns alive, Murphy says, “then we will stand.” Until then, Murphy, a proud home man, has got back where he started.
“I had gotten off the back burner to go to work. I said, ‘Okay, let me get away from this backlash I’ve been on for eight years. Let me do some work, ‘”Murphy says. “And we were going. We did everything we wanted to do. The big thing was going back to ‘Saturday Night Live. ‘We were on high. ‘Coming 2 America’ was in the can. Then the whole world collapsed. ”
“I was all ready to go,” Murphy said, smiling, “and then I had to go back on the cup.”