Coming To America 3 Is Happening And In The Works
In a recent interview, Eddie Murphy said that he has an idea for Coming to America 3, but it might take a while for the film to come out.
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Despite Coming to America being a huge comedy success when it debuted in 1988, it took almost 33 years for Coming 2 America to be released. With the sequel finally coming out last week, Eddie Murphy seems to already be considering a potential Coming to America 3. The wait for a third film wouldn’t exactly be as long as the gap between the first two movies, but Murphy says it will be a while until Coming to America 3 comes out.
In an interview on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Eddie Murphy said he already was working on the concept for Coming to America 3, but don’t hold your breath. Murphy said, “There’s an idea for a Coming to America 3 that I have, but it doesn’t happen for 16 years. I have to be 75 to do it, and not make me up like 75 but really be 75.”
Considering Coming 2 America is about Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem becoming King Akeem, after the passing of his father, King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), maybe Coming to America 3 will also be about passing the crown to the next generation. In Coming 2 America, King Akeem discovers that he has a long lost son, Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler), and heads back to America to bring him back to the kingdom of Zamunda to be the prince. Yet it seems like a lot to ask Fowler if he will be free in a decade and a half for a new project.
Coming 2 America was originally scheduled to release in theaters on August 7, 2020 by Paramount Pictures. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic closing many theaters around the country, Amazon Studios acquired the distribution rights for the film for $125 million. The company also recently paid a similar amount for the rights to Borat Subsequent Moviefilm when that film was also shelved due to the pandemic. By the time Coming to America 3 comes out, who knows how we will be watching films.
The first Coming to America was a huge hit when it was released in 1988, making over $128 million worldwide. The film was a cap to an incredible decade for Eddie Murphy, which included an impressive run on Saturday Night Live, a huge stand-up career, and a string of great comedies like 48 Hrs., Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop and its sequel. It appears as though audiences still are interested in the stories of Prince Akeem, since Amazon said that Coming 2 America had the best opening weekend of any streaming service since March 2020. Who knows how successful a Coming to America 3 would be if released in theaters, or if audiences would still be invested in these characters.
Even though Coming to America and Coming 2 America have been successful releases, the reviews of Coming 2 America have been mixed. The film currently has a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and a 46% audience score. Many reviews state that even though it’s great to see these characters together again, there’s not enough of a story here. Silva Chege’s review in Little White Lies said that Coming 2 America was “A sore reminder that some things are left better alone.” Maybe that means a Coming to America 3 isn’t the best idea after all?
Yet Eddie Murphy has been having somewhat of a career resurgence in recent years. Murphy recently said that he quit acting because the Razzies called him the worst actor of the decade. Yet in 2019, Murphy starred in and produced Dolemite Is My Name, which earned the actor a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and the film received a nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Murphy also returned to Saturday Night Live for the first time in years, a hosting gig that earned him an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
Considering how critically adored Dolemite Is My Name was, it’s no surprise that Eddie Murphy enlisted the film’s director Craig Brewer for Coming 2 America. However, with 16 years planned between Coming 2 America and Coming to America 3, Murphy should have enough time to address some of the problems critics had with this recent sequel. Murphy doesn’t specify anything else about this third film, except that the actor would have to actually be old, as opposed to pretending to be old.
Coming to America 3 will – supposedly – be released in 2037. Get your tickets now before they sell out.
