Coming 2 America Coming to Amazon Prime Video

Fans of Eddie Murphy’s hit movie Coming to America have double reason to rejoice: Amazon Studios has acquired the worldwide rights to the sequel, Coming 2 America, ahead of the 1988 original coming out on 4K-UHD.

The disc will be released on December 16, along with Murphy’s biggest crowdpleaser, Beverly Hills Cop.

Coming 2 America will stream on Amazon Prime Video worldwide from March 5.

The deal follows Amazon Studios scoring the global launch of another sequel, Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, which has been streaming on the service since October 23.

The straight-to-streaming premiere reportedly garnered 1.6 million viewers in its first weekend, according to a research company that measures connected TV usage on smart TVs.

That was nearly 500,000 more than Mulan’s opening weekend on Disney+ — although the latter was premium video on demand, or PVOD, which meant subscribers had to pay extra to view it.

Borat also cracked Netflix’s weekly dominance of most-popular streamed content on television, ranking eighth Nielsen’s top 20 for that week.

One business publication heralded the movie’s marketing campaign as “the new playbook” for how to stream a blockbuster.

At the same time, one analysis suggests Borat’s initial subscription VOD success may have been overstated and delivered “only limited bang for the buck“, Next TV reports.

Amazon paid $80 million for Sacha Baron Cohen comedy, but season 2 of The Boys has actually scored a bigger audience … Of course, public facing measurement of streaming audience performance remains an imperfect much of a muchness.  Indeed, with streaming companies continuing to shroud viewership data—and in the case of Amazon, SVOD subscriber growth—measurements of success remain hard to come by.

Meanwhile, WarnerMedia belatedly will release its Wonder Woman sequel in the US on HBO Max on Christmas Day because so many cinemas will be shut due to COVID-19 lockdowns (it was to have opened on October 2, having completed production in 2018).

“Debuting Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max instead of postponing the film until next year means forgoing substantial box office returns,” Variety reports.

“But the hope is that offering a splashy tentpole will drive subscribers to HBO Max, which has struggled to compete against Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus. HBO Max costs $15 a month.”

And Universal has signed pacts with key cinema chains in the US and Canada that will shorten the window between a movie’s theatrical and PVOD debut from months to weeks.

Here’s the media release for Coming 2 America:

AMAZON STUDIOS ACQUIRES COMING 2 AMERICA FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES

 The Highly-Anticipated Eddie Murphy-Starring Sequel to the Classic Comedy will Launch Globally on Amazon Prime Video on March 5, 2021

Amazon Studios has acquired worldwide rights to Coming 2 America from Paramount Pictures. This long-awaited sequel to the iconic comedy Coming to America will launch worldwide in over 240 countries and territories on Prime Video on Friday 5 March, 2021.

Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began.

Original cast favourites from Coming to America return including King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), Queen Lisa (Shari Headley), Cleo McDowell (John Amos), Maurice (Louie Anderson) and the motley barbershop crew. Joining this star-studded ensemble are Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Fowler, Bella Murphy, Rotimi, KiKi Layne, Nomzamo Mbatha and Teyana Taylor, making Coming 2 America the most anticipated comedy film of the year.

“Coming to America was a cultural phenomenon that is one of the most loved and celebrated comedies of all time,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios.

“Thanks to Eddie Murphy’s comedic genius along with the brilliant filmmakers, writers and fabulous cast, we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this new adventure. We know audiences around the world will fall in love with this hilarious, joyful movie that will surely become a timeless favourite.”

“What could be better than a return to Zamunda? We are so excited for Amazon Studios to bring Eddie Murphy and Coming 2 America to a worldwide audience where they can laugh again with characters they have loved for 30 years, and meet new ones that they will love for years to come,” said producer Kevin Misher.

Coming 2 America is directed by Craig Brewer, from Paramount Pictures in association with New Republic Pictures, and produced by Eddie Murphy Productions and Misher Films. The screenplay is written by Kenya Barris, Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield, with story by Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield and Justin Kanew, based on characters created by Eddie Murphy.

The producers are Kevin Misher and Eddie Murphy, executive producers are Brian Oliver, Bradley Fischer, Valerii An, Kenya Barris, Charisse Hewitt-Webster, Michele Imperato Stabile and Andy Berman.

Coming to America opened in theatres in 1988 to become a box office sensation achieving over $288 million in total worldwide box office gross.

The comedy was translated to over 25 languages around the globe, known in other countries as Un Prince à New York in France, Der Prinz aus Zamunda in Germany, Un Príncipe en Nueva York throughout Latin America, Il Principe Cerca Moglie in Italy and many more – to become the iconic movie we all know and love today.

Beyond its financial success, the film was a cultural zeitgeist that was not only timeless but also a proudly celebrated American comedy, making the film a go-to classic across generations. The memorable characters and relatable story of a fish-out-of-water connected audiences around the world, which is why fans have made it a repeat-viewing over the years.