Coming to America

Coming to America
Theatrical release poster illustrated by Drew Struzan
Directed by John Landis
Produced by George Folsey, Jr.
Robert D. Wachs
Screenplay by
Story by Eddie Murphy
Starring
Music by Nile Rodgers
Cinematography Sol Negrin
Woody Omens
Edited by Malcolm Campbell
George Folsey, Jr.
Production
company
Eddie Murphy Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • June 29, 1988 (1988-06-29)
Running time
 117 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $39 million
Box office $288,752,301[1]

Coming to America is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also starred in the lead role. The film also co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, and John Amos. The film was released in the United States on June 29, 1988. Eddie Murphy plays Akeem Joffer, the crown prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda, who comes to the United States in the hopes of finding a woman he can marry.

In 1989, a pilot for a planned spin-off TV show was made, although this was never picked up for a series.[2]

Plot

In the fictional wealthy African nation of Zamunda, crown prince Akeem Joffer grows weary of his pampered lifestyle on his 21st birthday and wishes to do more for himself. When his parents, King Jaffe and Queen Aeoleon, present him with an arranged bride-to-be, Akeem takes action. Seeking an independent woman who loves him for himself and not his social status, Akeem and his best friend/personal aide, Semmi, travel to the New York City borough of Queens and rent a squalid tenement in the neighborhood of Long Island City under the guise of poor foreign students. Beginning their search for Akeem's bride, they end up invited by some locals to a rally that is raising money for the inner city. During the rally, Akeem encounters Lisa McDowell, who possesses all the qualities he is looking for, and upon his insistence he and Semmi get entry-level jobs working at the local fast food restaurant called McDowell's — an obvious ripoff of McDonald's — owned by widower Cleo McDowell, Lisa's father.

Akeem's attempts to win Lisa's love are complicated by Lisa's lazy and obnoxious boyfriend, Darryl Jenks (Eriq La Salle), whose father owns Soul Glo (a Jheri curl–like hairstyling aid). After Darryl announces their engagement — without Lisa's consent — to their families, she starts dating Akeem, who claims that he comes from a family of poor goat herders. Meanwhile, although Akeem thrives on hard work and learning how commoners live, Semmi is not comfortable with living in such meager conditions. After a dinner date with Lisa is thwarted when Semmi furnishes their apartment with a jacuzzi and other luxuries, Akeem confiscates his money and donates it to two homeless men. Semmi wires a telegraph to King Jaffe for more money, prompting the Joffers to travel to Queens and expose his identity as a prince.

Cleo, initially disapproving of Akeem as he did not want to see his daughter with a poor man, becomes ecstatic when he discovers that Akeem is actually an extremely wealthy prince after being introduced to the Joffers. When Akeem discovers that his parents have arrived in the United States, he and Lisa take shelter at the McDowell residence where Cleo welcomes them. After Cleo's bond with Akeem is ruined by Darryl's unexpected arrival, Lisa later becomes angry and confused that Akeem lied to her about his identity. Akeem explains that he wanted her to love him for who, not what, he is, even offering to renounce his throne; but Lisa, still hurt and angry, refuses to marry him. Despondent, Akeem resigns himself to the arranged marriage, but as they leave, Jaffe is reprimanded by Aeoleon for clinging to out-dated traditions instead of thinking of his son's happiness.

At the wedding procession, a still-heartbroken Akeem becomes surprised when his veiled bride-to-be is Lisa herself. Following the ceremony, they ride happily in a carriage to the cheers of Zamundans. Witnessing such splendor, Lisa is both surprised and touched by the fact that Akeem would have given it up just for her. Akeem offers again to abdicate if she doesn't want this life, but Lisa playfully declines.

Cast

  • Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem Joffer, the prince of Zamunda; Randy Watson, a soul singer with the fictional band Sexual Chocolate.[3] Eddie Murphy also plays Saul, the Jewish barbershop customer, as well as Clarence, the owner of the barber shop.[4][5]
  • Arsenio Hall as Semmi, Akeem's friend; Reverend Brown;[6] Morris the barber; and an unattractive clubgoer.[7][8]
  • James Earl Jones as King Jaffe Joffer, Akeem's father and King of Zamunda.[9]
  • John Amos as Cleo McDowell, Akeem's employer and Lisa's father.
  • Madge Sinclair as Queen Aeoleon, Akeem's mother and the Queen of Zamunda.
  • Shari Headley as Lisa McDowell, Cleo's oldest daughter and Akeem's love interest.
  • Paul Bates as Oha, a royal servant.
  • Eriq La Salle as Darryl Jenks, Lisa's boyfriend whom she eventually breaks up with.

The cast also includes: Frankie Faison[10] as Mr. Townsend, Akeem and Semmi's landlord in Queens; Vanessa Bell as Imani Izzi, Akeem's arranged wife, and Calvin Lockhart as Colonel Izzi, her father; Louie Anderson as Maurice, a McDowell's employee; Allison Dean as Patrice McDowell, Cleo's youngest daughter and Lisa's sister; Samuel L. Jackson as a robber; Vondie Curtis-Hall as the Basketball game vendor; Garcelle Beauvais as a rose bearer; Victoria Dillard as one of Akeem's Zamundan attendants, and Clint Smith as Sweets. Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Cuba Gooding Jr. made their film debuts as a street hustler and a barber shop customer respectively (for the latter, he was credited as Boy Getting Haircut). Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy reprise their roles as, respectively, Mortimer and Randolph Duke from Landis' 1983 Murphy-starring comedy film Trading Places.[11] A segment of the Trading Places score can be heard during their scene. The Dukes' limo driver from that film also cameos as the driver of Akeem and Semmi's limo.

Coming to America features Murphy and Hall in several different roles, which, following the success of this film, became a Murphy staple.[12] Hall plays Reverend Brown, who introduces Randy Watson (Murphy).[13] Murphy and Hall play elderly barbers Clarence and Morris respectively, who engage in debate with Saul, the old Jewish man (Murphy). Hall also plays a woman (credited as Extremely Ugly Girl) who flirts with Akeem and Semmi.

Production

Coming to America reunited star Eddie Murphy with director John Landis. The two had previously worked together on the comedy hit Trading Places (1983); however, Landis later recalled the differences in working with Murphy on the two movies: "The guy on Trading Places was young and full of energy and curious and funny and fresh and great. The guy on Coming to America was the pig of the world... But I still think he's wonderful in the movie."[14]

"We had a tussling confrontation… We didn't come to blows. Personalities didn't mesh. I grabbed him, and he thought I was playing. So he tried to grab my balls and I pushed him away. But I wasn't kidding. He was doing some silly shit that made me mad. He directed me in Trading Places when I was just starting out as a kid, but he was still treating me like a kid five years later during Coming to America. And I hired him to direct the movie! I was gonna direct Coming to America myself, but I knew that Landis had just done three fucked-up pictures in a row and that his career was hanging by a thread after the Twilight Zone trial. I figured the guy was nice to me when I did Trading Places, so I'd give him a shot… I was going out of my way to help this guy, and he fucked me over. Now he's got a hit picture on his resumé, a movie that made over $200 million, as opposed to him coming off a couple of fucked-up movies – which is where I'd rather see him be right now (laughs)." – Eddie Murphy[15]

Despite the experience, Landis and Murphy collaborated again six years later on Beverly Hills Cop III.

South African chorus Ladysmith Black Mambazo sings Mbube during the opening sequence (the song also known as The Lion Sleeps Tonight). The group has gone on to record several different versions of Mbube; however, the version heard in Coming to America had not been released on its soundtrack or on CD as of 2006.

Landis' calling card/easter egg, "See You Next Wednesday", appears on a science-fiction movie poster in the subway station after Lisa storms off the train.

A promotional song for the film, also titled "Coming to America", was written and performed by The System.

Release

Paramount cancelled press screenings of the film, after initial negative reactions to a press screening in New York.[16]

Box office

Released on June 29, 1988, by Paramount Pictures in the United States, it was a commercial box-office success, both domestically and worldwide.[17][18] The film debuted at number one with $21,404,420 from 2,064 screens, for a five-day total of $28,409,497. The film made $128,152,301 in the United States and ended up with a worldwide total of $288,752,301.[19] It was the highest earning film that year for the studio and the third-highest-grossing film at the United States box office.[20]

It opened a month later in the UK and earned $7,712,622 during its seven-week run. It opened on September 2 in West Germany, where it debuted at number one with $3,715,791 from 297 screens. It ended its run after 13 weeks with $15,743,447.

Reception

Coming To America received positive reviews upon release. Review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 67%, based on reviews from 42 critics with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Eddie Murphy was in full control at this point, starkly evident in Coming to America's John Landis' coasting direction."[21] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 16 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[22]

Sheila Benson in the Los Angeles Times called it a "hollow and wearying Eddie Murphy fairy tale" and bemoans, "That an Eddie Murphy movie would come to this."[23] Vincent Canby in The New York Times was also critical of the writing, calling it a "possibly funny idea" but suggesting the screenplay had escaped before it was ready. Canby viewed the film as essentially a romantic comedy but said the romantic elements fell flat, and the film instead goes for broad slapstick.[24] Siskel & Ebert had mixed opinions on the film. Siskel enjoyed the acting from Murphy and Hall but Ebert was disappointed that Murphy did not bring his usual more lively performance, and Ebert was also critical of the unoriginal script.[25]

Awards

The film was nominated for two Oscars: Best Costume Design by Deborah Nadoolman Landis and Best Makeup by Rick Baker,[26] who designed the makeup effects for both Murphy's and Arsenio Hall's multiple supporting characters.[27]

Lawsuit

The film was the subject of the Buchwald v. Paramount civil suit, which the humorist Art Buchwald filed in 1990 against the film's producers on the grounds that the film's idea was stolen from his 1982 script treatment about a rich, despotic African potentate who comes to America for a state visit. Paramount had optioned the treatment from Buchwald, and John Landis was attached as director and Eddie Murphy as the lead, but after two years of development hell Paramount abandoned the project in March 1985. In 1987, Paramount began working on Coming to America based on a story by Eddie Murphy.[28][29] Buchwald won the breach of contract action and the court ordered monetary damages. The parties later settled the case out-of-court before an appeal going to trial.[30]

Soundtrack

Coming to America: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released July 1988
Genre Pop
Length 40:16
Label Atco Records
Singles from Coming to America

The soundtrack to the film was released on LP, cassette and CD. The songs "Coming to America" by The System, "Better Late Than Never" by The Cover Girls and "Come into My Life" by Laura Branigan and Joe Esposito were released as singles from the album. "That's The Way It Is" by Mel & Kim had been released as a single in the UK, before the film's release, in February 1988, and became a top ten hit. It was released as a single in the US at the time of the film's release.

Side A
  1. "Coming to America" — The System (3:49)
  2. "Better Late Than Never" — The Cover Girls (4:02)
  3. "All Dressed Up (Ready to Hit the Town)" — Chico DeBarge (4:50)
  4. "I Like It Like That" — Michael Rodgers (4:01)
  5. "That's the Way It Is" — Mel and Kim (3:25)
Side B
  1. "Addicted to You" — LeVert (3:54)
  2. "Comin' Correct" — J.J. Fad (3:56)
  3. "Livin' the Good Life" — Sister Sledge (3:46)
  4. "Transparent" — Nona Hendryx (3:50)
  5. "Come into My Life" — Laura Branigan and Joe Esposito (4:39)

Legacy

Television pilot

A television pilot of a weekly sitcom version of the film was produced for CBS, following the film's success, starring Tommy Davidson as Prince Tariq, and Paul Bates reprising his role as Oha. The pilot went unsold, but was televised on July 4, 1989 as part of the CBS Summer Playhouse pilot anthology series.[31][2]

Movie remakes

A Tamil movie, My Dear Marthandan, was produced based on the plot of Coming to America. A Hong Kong movie, The Fun, the Luck & the Tycoon, also has the same plot.

Influences in music

The melody heard in the bathroom scene, where Prince Akeem is being washed by female servants, was sampled in Snoop Dogg's 2006 song "That's That" featuring R. Kelly; a remix of the song featuring rapper Nas includes a woman's voice saying "the royal penis is clean your highness", a line taken from the same scene. Also, the music videos for Busta Rhymes' 1997 single "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See" and Action Bronson's 2015 single "Baby Blue" are loosely based on the film. The song "Coming 2 America" by Ludacris from the album Word of Mouf features samples[32] and lyrics[33] referencing the film.

Planned sequel

In early 2017, an announcement was publicized which addressed the impending production of a sequel to the film. Kevin Misher was named as producer, and Sheffield and Blaustein, the original screenwriters, were also attached to the project. However, a possible participation of lead actors Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall was left undefined.[34][35] According to several public accounts, Murphy himself apparently posted an announcement regarding the film project a month prior on Facebook, but later claimed that his account had been hacked and completely deleted it.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "Coming to America (1988)". Box Office Mojo.
  2. 1 2 "Reminder: A terrible 'Coming to America' TV pilot happened in 1989". Splinter News. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. ↑ YouTube
  4. ↑ YouTube
  5. ↑ Top10films.co.uk
  6. ↑ YouTube
  7. ↑ YouTube
  8. ↑ YouTube
  9. ↑ Movieclips.com Archived 2014-11-17 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ YouTube
  11. ↑ Daniel Carlson (5 May 2009). "Is it Just Me, or Does Every Woman in New York Have a Severe Emotional Problem?". pajiba.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "The Nutty Professor credits". imdb.com. Retrieved 4 August 2013. "Vampire in Brooklyn credits". imdb.com. Retrieved 4 August 2013. "Norbit credits". imbd.com. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  13. ↑ Randy Watson is introduced as having played "Joe the Policeman" in the "What's Going Down" episode of That's My Mama.
  14. ↑ "The Collider Interview: John Landis, Part II". Collider. February 9, 2005. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  15. ↑ Zehme, Bill (August 24, 1989). "Eddie Murphy: the Rolling Stone interview". Rolling Stone: 52, 57.
  16. ↑ "Indiewire Blog". Archived from the original on 2013-05-12.
  17. ↑ Easton, Nina (1988-07-26). "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : 'Rabbit' and 'America' Battle for Dollars". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
  18. ↑ Easton, Nina J. (1989-01-05). "Roger Rabbit' Hops to Box-Office Top; 'Coming to America' Hits 2nd". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  19. ↑ "Coming to America". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  20. ↑ "1988 Domestic Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  21. ↑ "Coming to America (1988)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Coming to America Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  23. ↑ Benson, Sheila (1988-06-29). "Spare Fare in Eddie Murphy's 'America'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  24. ↑ Canby, Vincent (1988-06-29). "Review/Film; African Prince in Queens". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
  25. ↑ "Youtube".
  26. ↑ "The 61st Academy Awards | 1989". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  27. ↑ Coming to America (1988), retrieved 2018-02-22
  28. ↑ Buchwald v. Paramount Pictures Corp. and the Future of Net Profit — retrieved May 2015
  29. ↑ Thane Rosenbaum,The Myth of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails to Do What's Right page 182.
  30. ↑ Thane Rosenbaum wrote, "In 1995, the syndicated columnist Art Buchwald prevailed after a seven-year legal battle against Paramount Pictures, claiming that he had submitted the idea, and the original script, for the Eddie Murphy film, Coming to America, without ever being properly compensated or acknowledged for his efforts. The trial court eventually agreed with Buchwald, although the damage award that he received was considerably less than what he had sought, and even less than what he eventually had to pay out in legal fees." --The Myth of Moral Justice: Why Our Legal System Fails to Do What's Right page 182.
  31. ↑ "`Outtakes' - `Coming To America' The TV Series". Deseret News. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  32. ↑ "Ludacris's 'Coming 2 America' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  33. ↑ "Ludacris - Coming 2 America Lyrics | MetroLyrics". www.metrolyrics.com. Retrieved 2018-02-22.
  34. 1 2 "'Coming to America' sequel makes headway as Paramount hires original writers to pen script". DailyMail. 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  35. ↑ "A 'Coming to America' Sequel Is in the Works With the Original Writers". US Magazine. 2017-04-14. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
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