‘Coming 2 America’ sets streaming record, Amazon says
The sequel dropped on Amazon Prime Video this weekend
One of the most highly-anticipated movies of the year, Coming 2 America has officially set a streaming record, according to Amazon.
Coming 2 America, the big-budget sequel to the 80s classic film, Coming to America, dropped last weekend. While reviews were decidedly mixed, fans seemed to truly enjoy seeing these beloved characters again, as well as the reunion of actors like Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, and more. Now, Amazon has released an official statement declaring that the big-budget sequel “far exceeded” their expectations.
Read More: En Vogue on their big ‘Coming 2 America’ moment
According to Deadline, Amazon is confirming that Coming 2 America had “the No. 1 opening weekend of any streaming movie in 2021 so far, and the No. 1 weekend of any streaming movie in the past 12 months in the wake of the pandemic.”
Movie theaters, of course, have been struggling since the pandemic, and only now are some states allowing the reopening of theaters to the public. Since then, movie-goers have relied on streamers like Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and Disney + to provide quality entertainment to their homes.
In an official statement, the Head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke gushed about the success of the sequel flick.
“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,” she explained.
TheGrio’s Mariel Turner recently sat down with Coming 2 America stars Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall.
Murphy told TheGrio, “I wanted to do a good movie. I didn’t want to do a movie that didn’t capture the spirit of the first movie. We worked on the script for four years before we, you know, got it right…it was process. From the very beginning though, it was wanting [the sequel] to be good, but it wasn’t a pressure thing.”
Murphy also opened up about diving back into his iconic character, Prince Akeem. He revealed, “Getting back into the character, for me, I’ve always been able to just turn it on and off when I’m doing characters…these characters—this movie is on so much, it’s kind of like, it’s in the background and you see it. The characters are just around so it was easy to just jump back in.”
Read More: En Vogue on their big ‘Coming 2 America’ moment
Coming 2 America is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.
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