Coming to America Information

Coming to America is a 1988 American 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 and John Amos. The film was released in the United States on June 29, 1988.

Eddie Murphy plays Prince Akeem Joffer, an African prince who comes to the United States in hopes of finding a woman he can marry.

Plot

Akeem Joffer, the crown prince to the throne of the wealthy African nation of Zamunda, is unhappy with being pampered his entire life and desires to be more independent. The final straw comes when his parents, King Jaffe and Queen Aeoleon, present him with an arranged bride-to-be named Imani Izzi, whom he's never met and who's been trained to obey Akeem's every command. Seeing that Imani's too subservient and offers nothing for his intellect, Akeem concocts a plan to travel to the United States to find an intelligent, independent-minded woman he can both love and respect, and who will love Akeem for who he is and not for his status as a prince. Akeem and his best friend/personal aide, Semmi, flip a coin to decide between going to either Los Angeles or New York City, and end up going to New York City. While deciding where to go in New York City, they end up going to the borough of Queens. They rent a run-down apartment in the neighborhood of Long Island City, passing themselves off as poor foreign students, and begin working at a local fast food restaurant called McDowell's, owned by Cleo McDowell and his daughters, Lisa and Patrice.

Akeem soon falls in love with Lisa, who possesses all the qualities that the prince is looking for in a woman. The rest of the film centers on Akeem's attempts to win Lisa's hand in marriage, which is complicated by Lisa's lazy and obnoxious boyfriend, Darryl Jenks, the "Soul Glo" heir, although Lisa eventually breaks up with him and starts dating Akeem. Although Akeem thrives on working hard and seeing how commoners live, Semmi is not comfortable with living the life of a poor man. When Akeem donates their travel money to the homeless Randolph and Mortimer Duke (characters in the previous Eddie Murphy film Trading Places), Semmi transmits a plea to the King of Zamunda for more financial help. This causes Akeem's parents to travel to Queens and reveal themselves to the McDowells.

Mr. McDowell is ecstatic that his daughter has attracted the interest of a prince, but Lisa becomes angry and confused as to why Akeem lied to her about his identity, as he had told her before that he was actually a goat herder from Zamunda. Still hurt and angry that Akeem lied to her, she refuses to marry him, even after he offers to renounce his throne, and he returns with a broken heart, resigned to marry the woman chosen for him by his parents. On the way to the airport, King Jaffe remarks that Akeem can't marry Lisa anyway because of "tradition," and tries defending himself by saying "Who am I to change it?," with Queen Aeoleon curtly responding, "I thought you were the King."

At the final scene's wedding procession, Akeem, still heartbroken, waits dejectedly at the altar as his bride-to-be makes her way down the aisle. However, when Akeem lifts the veil to kiss her, he finds Lisa instead of Imani. Akeem and Lisa are married, and they ride happily in a carriage after the ceremony to the cheers of Zamundan citizens. Witnessing such splendor, Lisa is both impressed and touched by the fact that Akeem would've given it up just for her. Akeem offers to abdicate if she doesn't want a life like this, but Lisa playfully declines and decides to become royalty instead.

Cast

• Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem Joffer: The prince of Zamunda. Randy Watson/Saul/Clarence.
• Arsenio Hall as Semmi: Akeem's friend. Reverend Brown/Morris
• James Earl Jones as King Jaffe Joffer: Akeem's father and King of Zamunda.
• John Amos as Cleo McDowell: Akeem's employer.
• 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 who she eventually breaks up with.

The cast also includes: Frankie Faison 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 Basketball game vendor; Garcelle Beauvais as a rose bearer; and Clint Smith as Sweets. Cuba Gooding, Jr. made his film debut as a barber shop customer (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. A segment of the Trading Places score can be heard during their scene. The Duke's 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. Hall plays Reverend Brown, who introduces Randy Watson (Murphy). 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." 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's 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.

McDowell's

In the film, the restaurant is owned by Cleo McDowell (John Amos) and based in Queens, New York. It is under investigation from the McDonald's Corporation for allegedly copying their franchise. At one point, McDowell confronts a photographer shooting outside the restaurant, who McDowell believes is working to gather evidence for McDonald's. The logos and typeface are extremely similar, including the names of the dishes: the "Big Mac" becomes the "Big Mic" - Mr. McDowell explains, "They both contain two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions. But they use a sesame seed bun. My buns have no seeds." McDowell, in describing the differences between his logo and McDonald's, explains, "They got the Golden Arches, mine the Golden Arcs." Later in the film, when McDowell is first confronted by King Jaffe Joffer, he is seen reading a McDonald's Operation Manual.

The real-life location of the restaurant is 85-07 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, Queens, as specified in the movie. The actual building itself is the location of a Wendy's restaurant. The restaurant closed in mid-2013 when the building was scheduled to be demolished in order for a six-story apartment building to rise on the site.

Release

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

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. The film grossed $128,152,301 at the domestic box office. It was the highest earning film that year for the studio and the third-highest grossing film at the United States box office.

Reception

Review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 68%, based on reviews from 37 critics.

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." 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. 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.

Awards

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

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 the film's idea was stolen from a 1982 script that Paramount had optioned from Buchwald. Buchwald won the breach of contract action and the court ordered monetary damages. The parties later settled the case out-of-court prior to an appeal going to trial.

In the retrospective interviews included on the 2007 DVD release of Coming to America, John Landis and screenwriters Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield make no mention of Art Buchwald's lawsuit, and maintain the film's story originated with Eddie Murphy, with Blaustein and Sheffield writing the screenplay from Murphy's 25-page treatment. In an interview filmed around the time of the film's theatrical release, and included on the DVD, Murphy himself claims he came up with the idea for the movie while on tour. According to Murphy, the film was originally titled The Quest. Blaustein and Sheffield renamed it The Zamuda Project (named for writer/comedian Bob Zmuda; Landis renamed the titular country "Zamunda" to make it sound more African).

Landis said Buchwald's case was "without merit," going on to state:

his lawsuit benefited were Eddie Murphy and me because it forced Paramount to open their books.}}

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film was released on LP, cassette and CD. The song "Come into My Life" by Laura Branigan and Joe Esposito was released as a single, and "That's The Way It Is" by Mel & Kim was released as single and a top ten hit in the UK.

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 & 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 & 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.