The long-awaited comedy sequel Coming 2 America recently moved from Paramount Pictures to Amazon, and this vital change could save the film's prospects. Released in 1988, Coming to America was one of Eddie Murphy’s earliest uber-successful star vehicles. The actor had already impressed with starring roles in Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, but this unconventional rom-com was one of the first instances of the star carrying an internationally successful blockbuster on his shoulders without big-budget action sequences or big-name co-stars.
The story of Prince Akeem, a spoiled African royal who comes to America in search of a bride, was a simple but effective set up for a string of outrageous gags, broad slapstick, and some ingenious interplay between Murphy and co-star Arsenio Hall. Murphy may have clashed with director John Landis of Animal House fame onset, but the film was a massive success with critics and audiences and the pair later buried the hatchet with both admitting the movie was one of the best efforts of their respective careers. Now, with the sequel, there's a chance to see the old cast return and new characters for Coming 2 America brought in to shake things up, but what matters is that the original spirit is preserved.
When that belated follow-up was announced, fans of Murphy were tentatively excited, although news of the film’s proposed MPAA rating soon left them disappointed. Black Snake Moan director Craig Brewer was brought on board to replace Landis, having successfully revived the raunchy, ribald old Eddie Murphy in 2019’s charming Rudy Ray Moore biopic Dolemite Is My Name. That comedy-drama from Netflix was a huge and well-deserved critical success for Murphy, who has recently struggled to make an impact with audiences, but initially Coming 2 America was not going to share the adults-only R rating of both the original Coming to America and Dolemite Is My Name.
During its tenure at Paramount, Coming 2 America was aiming for a PG-13 rating, despite the original film having a well-earned R. This kid-friendly rating would have meant the filmmakers needed to enforce a serious change in tone from the original Coming To America, reining in Murphy’s freewheeling and frequently obscene riffs to ensure the finished film was still a family-friendly affair. The original movie is evidence enough that this movie would not have been a good idea. Like most efforts from Landis and a pre-Disney Murphy, the original Coming To America's nudity, crude humor, and foul language ensured was far from being a family movie, despite starring the man who would eventually be best known as Donkey from the Shrek movie series and the titular hero of The Nutty Professor.
While not as hard-edged and profane as Murphy’s stand-up specials Raw and Delirious (both of whose uncut originals would likely be denied any rating by the eighties-era MPAA), Coming to America is an R-rated comedy whose content would have been compromised by a switch to the necessarily neutered PG-13 rating. Fortunately, the movie’s move to Amazon means that the sequel can now stay more in line with the original's attitude. It’s a far better idea, as Murphy has struggled to succeed in family films since as far back as 2003’s critically maligned misfire The Haunted Mansion, and the actor’s most-loved movies tend to be more adult affairs like 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, and the original Coming To America. As every controversy surrounding The Boys proves, Amazon is no stranger to adults-only content, and an R-rating is a small price for the studio to pay if it might mean keeping Murphy's comic edge sharper in Coming 2 America.