Coming to America 2 just got very real. Paramount Pictures took the stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas today to showcase their upcoming movie slate. A lot was shown, from the first footage of Terminator: Dark Fate, to the initial look at the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which actually got a relatively warm welcome. But one of the biggest moments happened in a blink and you'll miss it bit of footage from a sizzle reel that was shown at the end of the panel highlighting some of what's to come from the studio; the first glimpse of Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall from the highly-anticipated sequel.
Paramount ended their presentation with a CInemaCon sizzle reel showcasing some of what we can expect from them in the future. This included name drops for titles like A Quiet Place 2, Top Gun: Maverick and a new G.I. Joe movie. But at one point, they showed a very small bit of footage featuring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall in character in Coming to America 2. The footage didn't come with any plot reveals or anything like that, as it was very short. It does, however, confirm that this movie is, indeed, finally happening and is apparently filming as we speak. It also apparently got a major reaction from the crowd.
Eddie Murphy hasn't headlined a major studio comedy in some time and this is going to be a sequel to one of his most beloved movies. We've been hearing rumors of this movie possibly coming together for a long time, so it was really one of those we'll believe it when we see it sort of things. Now that some footage has been showcased, it's truly time to believe it. Prior to this footage reveal, we learned that Craig Brewer, who just worked with Murphy on Netflix's Dolemite is My Name, would be in the director's chair.
The sequel to the 1988 classic will see Eddie Murphy's Akeem coming back to America after he learns he has a long-lost son, who becomes the unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda. Coming to America was directed by John Landis and was a massive hit in its day, grossing $288 million at the global box office. That would be a huge number for a studio comedy these days, but 30 years ago, that was truly tremendous. Sadly, it's been a while since Murphy has enjoyed that kind of success, but revisiting one of his most iconic roles could be one way to get back to that former glory.
It isn't yet clear who else from the original movie will be returning, but one would imagine Shari Headley, John Amos and possibly even James Earl Jones would be on deck. Now that the studio has showcased some early footage, hopefully they will make some sort of formal announcement regarding the sequel in the not-too-distant future, which will clue us in on some of those details. Coming to America 2 is currently set to hit theaters on August 7, 2020, from Paramount Pictures.