Coming 2 America, Paramount Pictures’ highly anticipated sequel to the romantic comedy film Coming to America, has been pushed from its original August 7th, 2020 release date slot to December 18th 2020.
The new release date puts the movie in direct competition with Disney’s West Side Story remake. It will then face a much tougher competition at the box office when The Croods 2 and Cruella open in theaters five days later. Meanwhile, Coming 2 America’s original release date slot was given to Antoine Fuqua’s Infinite, a feature adaptation of D. Eric Maikranz’s novel The Reincarnationist Papers.
Released in 1988, Coming to America follows the story of Akeem (Eddie Murphy), the crown prince of the fictional wealthy African nation of Zamunda, who rebels against an arranged marriage set up by his parents for his 21st birthday. With a goal to seek an independent woman who will love him for himself and not his social status, Akeem and his personal aide Semmi (Arsenio Hall) travel to New York City where lots of hijinks ensue.
The sequel will be helmed by Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer who has previously worked with Murphy on the Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name. Black-ish creator Kenya Barris is writing the film’s based on a draft from original Coming to America writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield. Murphy is producing the film alongside Kevin Misher with Barris also serving as an executive producer.
“After many years of anticipation, I’m thrilled that Coming to America 2 is officially moving forward,” Murphy said in a statement officially announcing the project last year. “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.”
In addition to Murphy and Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos, and James Earl Jones are also expected to reprise their roles in the sequel.