1988 film directed by John Landis
Coming to America is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis, based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, written by David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein, and starring Murphy (in various roles), Arsenio Hall (also in various roles), James Earl Jones, John Amos, Madge Sinclair and Shari Headley. It tells the story of Akeem Joffer, the crown prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda who travels to the United States in the hopes of finding a woman he can marry and will love him for who he is, not for his status or for having been trained to please him. The film was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on June 29, 1988, and received generally positive reviews from critics. It was also a box-office success, grossing an estimated $288.8–$350 million on a $36 million budget.
In 1989, a pilot for a planned spin-off television series was made, although this was never picked up for a series. A sequel to the film—Coming 2 America—was released on March 4, 2021.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.