Eddie Murphy Rejected ‘Coming to America’ Sequel Starring Michael B. Jordan

MAY 12: Michael B. Jordan attends the photo-call of 'Farenheit 451' during the 71st Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 2018 in Cannes, France. (Credit: Shutterstock)

It was not in the cards for Eddie Murphy to collaborate with Black Panther duo Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan on a Coming to America sequel.

In a new interview with The New York Times, Murphy said he rejected an idea Coogler had for the sequel and his character Prince Akeem Joffer.

“Before he directed Black Panther, I meet with him and he says, I want to do a Coming to America sequel. He had an idea for Michael B. Jordan to play my son and he would be looking for a wife. I was like, then the movie would be about the son, it’s not our characters, we already did that. It didn’t come together,” the comedian told the NYT in a joint interview with co-star Arsenio Hall.

Instead, the sequel titled Coming 2 America will focus on Prince Akeem preparing to become king of the fictional Zamunda nation when he finds out he has a son in America he never knew about.

Related Story: ‘Coming 2 America’ Trailer: The Barbershop Is Back in Business and the Jokes Fly

Murphy created the story for the 1988 film. Earlier in the interview, he mentioned the multiple characters he played weren’t originally in the movie. That changed with director John Landis on board, who worked with the actor and comedian on Trading Places. Landis suggested a bit of special effects and accents to help transform Murphy into several different characters.

“He had worked with [the special makeup-effects designer] Rick Baker before, so he was like, Rick could make you look like an old Jewish man — that would be hysterical. And that’s how that stuff started,” Murphy said.

Coming 2 America is directed by Craig Brewer, who previously helmed Hustle & Flow and Dolemite Is My Name, which starred Murphy.

The characters Eddie Murphy helped bring to life in the first film — Prince Akeem, Clarence, Saul and Randy Watson — are coming back to screens more than thirty years after the release of Coming to America when Amazon releases the sequel on March 5.


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About Jacquelinne Mejia

Jacquelinne Mejia is a writer and social media producer in Los Angeles. She can be reached on Twitter @JackieMejia.