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Coming 2 America First Photos

Source: Amazon Studios / Coming 2 America

A lot of viewers decided to hop on the royal jet and make that return trip to Zamunda over the weekend when they hit play on Amazon Studios’ Coming 2 America

The follow up to the 1988 cult classic comedy Coming To America, which saw Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, Shari Headly, and Louie Anderson reprise their beloved roles, had a massive royal opening weekend. Coming 2 America was the #1 streamed movie following its launch. It also was the #1 opening weekend of any other streaming movie in 2021 thus far and the #1 opening weekend of any streaming movie in the past 12 months as per 3rd party Screen Engine/ASI’s weekly PostVOD ranking.

In Coming 2 America, newly-crowned King Akeem, and his loyal servant and confidant, Semmi, return to Queens. NYC, so Akeem can find his long-lost son,  Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler), to keep the royal lineage going and keep Zamunda out of the hands of General Izzy and his son Idi Izzy (Rotimi).

Speaking on the film’s success, Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said:

“The Zamunda Royal family has arrived, and audiences around the globe welcomed them enthusiastically! The premiere of Coming 2 America has far exceeded any of our wildest expectations. It’s clear an entire new generation of fans have joined the enormous loyal fanbase who already adored the magical world created by global phenom Eddie Murphy, the incredibly talented filmmaking team, and the hilarious, all-star cast of existing and newly-cemented legends. Coming 2 America is the perfectly fun, celebratory, escapist, feel-good comedy movie that worldwide audiences needed.”

Ukonwa Ojo, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Prime Video and Amazon Studios, added:

“Coming 2 America is a quintessential film in pop culture, as such, we needed a campaign at the intersection of marketing and culture. For the past 33 years, the original 1988 film has been regarded as one of the most iconic films in the Black community. We wanted fans of Eddie Murphy and the original blockbuster to be surprised and delighted with every experience because we were passionate fans too!”

Following the film’s early release, social media lit up with reactions to the film. Names like LeBron James, Regina King, Gladys Knight, Ice-T, Chance The Rapper, Alicia Keys, Amy Schumer, Tracee Ellis Ross, Ayesha Curry, Snoop Dogg, and Kerry Washington all chimed in on the show. They got it trending ahead of Friday’s (Mar.5) watch party and was the most talked-about 2021 movie on Twitter, according to social media data analysis from ListenFirst Media.

The film also garnered over 12,000 customer reviews on Prime Video which became the #1 downloaded app for Entertainment (on the App Store) and #2 downloaded app across all free apps over the debut weekend.

Coming 2 America has sparked plenty of debates on how good the film was, or whether it was necessary, to begin with. But it’s clear that people watched it and were excited about it. So, one thing you’re going to have to call it, whether you liked it or not, was a win for the culture.

Photo: Amazon Studios / Coming 2 America

‘Coming 2 America’ Was A Royal Success Thanks To Massive Opening Weekend On Amazon Prime Video  was originally published on cassiuslife.com