Paramount is feeling confident about their long-in-the-works sequel, Coming to America 2. The original 1988 comedy that saw Eddie Murphy's Prince Akeem head to America with his servant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) will get a second chapter next year as the studio has set an August 7, 2020 release. With that date announced, an official production start date and cast reveal shouldn't be too awful far behind, especially since the team will want to get the cameras rolling sooner than later.

Black-ish creator Kenya Barris wrote the script for the sequel, and Hustle & Flow filmmaker Craig Brewer will direct. The plot follows Akeem as he learns about a long-lost son in America, so he returns to meet the unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda. That plot has some very basic similarities to the subplot of Black Panther, so one wonders if that film's success provided the motivation and momentum needed to get another installment of Coming to America off the ground. Barris rewrote the script by the original film’s writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield and remains onboard as an executive producer.

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Image via Paramount Pictures

As for the cast and crew, having recently directed a number of episodes of the TV series Empire, Brewer now shares a shorthand with Murphy, having just directed him in the upcoming film, Dolemite Is My Name. A previous statement from Murphy that was released in support of Brewer heading up the Coming to America sequel suggests that original cast members Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos, and James Earl Jones may be back in action for another go-round. Stay tuned!

For more of our coverage of Coming to America 2, be sure to get caught up with our previous write-ups provided at the links below:

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