‘Coming 2 America’ is Coming 2 Amazon

It’s definitely shaping up to be the year of the streamer, as another major movie is now headed to Amazon Prime instead of its original theatrical plan. According to Variety, Coming 2 America has been sold from Paramount Pictures to Amazon Studios for close to $125 million. The original Coming to America was released in 1988 and earned Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup.

Originally scheduled for an August 7^th release, the sequel is now set to debut on Amazon Prime Video on December 18^th. The last collaboration between director Craig Brewer and star Eddie Murphy was also a streaming release, last year’s Dolemite Is My Name, for Netflix. For Coming 2 America, Brewer takes over directing duties from John Landis. Along with Murphy, original cast members Arsenio Hall and James Earl Jones are slated to return. New talent in the cast includes Wesley Snipes, Tracy Morgan, and Leslie Jones. The sequel will see Murphy’s Akeem learning about a long-lost son in America whose existence complicates his own status as king of Zamunda.

This marks the second major comedy sequel to be acquired by Amazon in recent weeks after Borat: Gift of Pornographic Monkey to Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence to Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation of Kazakhstan, though it’s only been fourteen years since the first film was released. Other upcoming Amazon Prime releases that have made headlines are One Night in Miami from director Regina King and Without Remorse.