If fans had not spoken, Eddie Murphy says the sequel to Coming to America would never have been on his radar.
During a new interview with Extra, Murphy reunited with his co-star Arsenio Hall ahead of the release of the highly-anticipated sequel titled Coming 2 America.
“We never planned on making a sequel to the movie. We kind of had done the movie and it was in the past, but the movie stayed around,” Murphy explained. “Of all the movies that I have done over the last 40 years, Coming to America is the only one that has, like, a cult following. It comes on TV all the time. On Halloween, some people get dressed up as characters from the movie. VH1 played it 24 hours in a row on Christmas. Little stuff from the movie became part of the culture.”
Related Story: ‘Coming 2 America’ Trailer: The Barbershop Is Back in Business and the Jokes Fly
After nearly three decades, that fan dedication sparked the idea for a follow-up film.
“Maybe around six, five years ago, I got an idea. Then it took four years for it to come together,” Murphy added.
Hall joined in by saying fans even had a say in how the sequel would turn out in the end.
“Fans rolled up on you in the mall or on Twitter, [saying] ‘Don’t you f–k up our movie! Don’t mess it up!’ You have to go into it with all that in your head,” he noted.
Hall also said working with “the G.O.A.T.” — Murphy made him step up his acting game.
“You got to bring it. Know your lines, get your rest and be ready to deliver. ‘Cause I’m telling you—I’ve worked with a lot of people, ain’t nothing like working with Eddie,” the former Arsenio Hall Show host said.
The new film follows Murphy’s character 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. Naturally, hijinks will ensue.
Coming 2 America begins streaming on Amazon Prime March 5. Watch the full interview with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall below:
