The real-life location of the McDowell’s is … On this private tour, you’ll get to see sites from classic films like Coming to America, and many others. Stream It Or Skip It: 'The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run' on Paramount+, the Latest Splash of Admirable Madness From the Longstanding Franchise, How to Watch 'The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run', Is 'Silk Road' on Netflix? During the current situation, we're relying more than usual on Google Maps images. When the question of where prince is going to find a potential bride in New York arises, the obvious answer is Queens. If you’re looking for a similarly romantic evening, the restaurant with those wonderful views across to the Manhattan skyline is the River Café, 1 Water Street at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. 442. The two young men hail from the fictional African nation of Zamunda. One important location noticeable by its absence so far is ‘2432 Derby Avenue, Jamaica Estates’, home of the McDowell family. Won over by Akeem’s charm, Lisa begins to have second thoughts about her wealthy but crass boyfriend Darryl (Eriq La Salle). Hall as Semmi in 1988’s Coming to America. Short answer, no. That promenade of shops nearby which sported the ‘Soul-Glo’ hair products billboard on its roof, has also vanished. Thirty-three years after “Coming to America,” Murphy and Hall have returned to Zamunda. Producer Kevin Misher had a great idea to make some of the paintings look like Eddie, as Akeem, too, so the lineage is clear.”. Smitten with the boss’s daughter, Lisa (Shari Headley), Akeem attends, as part of a double date, a basketball game at Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, Manhattan. 'SNL' Roasted Ted Cruz's Cancun Adventure (Just Like You Knew They Would), Horny For History: The Best Bodice-Ripping Sex Scenes. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall Return to Zamunda, and Queens in ‘Coming 2 America' The sequel to the hit 1988 comedy premieres March 5 on Amazon Prime Video. So they filmed them on the studio lot, and the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena, California according to Movie-Locations.com. It's taken a little longer than usual for a box office smash to beget a sequel. With Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, Wesley Snipes. Why Has the 'Bridgerton' Hype Left Phoebe Dynevor Behind? And inside, we created the statue of the King and each of the paintings on the walls that represent past leaders. 3,877, This story has been shared 2,738 times. Landis indulges a little in-joke here as the two down-and-outs to whom Akeem gives money turn out to be Randolph and Mortimer (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche), the wealthy businessmen from Trading Places. In "Coming to America," Eddie Murphy played Prince Akeem, from the African kingdom of Zamunda - a man hoping to find a wife in Queens. Akeem and Lisa end up in a smart riverside restaurant where, after a slow dance, they realise they have a serious connection. Hey, as long as the jokes are good, Coming 2 America is bound to be a good time, no matter where it was filmed. As an added bit of trivia, the 1924 house once owned by Dan Blocker (‘Hoss’ Cartwright from TV’s Bonanza) was for several years the home of Rob Zombie, rock musician and director of The Devil’s Rejects, House of 1,000 Corpses and the 2007 reboot of Halloween. They agree that there are only two options: Los Angeles, or New York. In addition to the rough-and-real neighborhoods of Queens, the film also captured the feel of mom-and-pop barbershops and an extended scene on the New York City subway. Get news & recommendations for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, and more, in your inbox. This story has been shared 57,362 times. 775, This story has been shared 732 times. 732, This story has been shared 582 times. The film ends with Prince Akeem returning to his native Zamunda to marry -- much to his pleasant surprise -- the woman he found in Queens, Lisa. “We referenced it in certain exterior scenes and used digital effects to create specific looks that might be familiar to fans. Where To Watch 'Silk Road' Online, 'Without Remorse' Trailer: Michael B. Jordan Sets Off on a Violent Revenge Mission, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1' on VOD, a Gimmicky Martial Arts Outing Boasting a Single 77-Minute Shot, Philips Hue Play Light Bars Give Your Home Theater a Colorful Makeover, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Lupe' On HBO Max, A Drama That Explores Themes Of Immigration & Transgender Identity, Stream It Or Skip It: 'So My Grandma's A Lesbian!' Coming to America only had a few scenes in Zamunda. And it is. Yet it … document.write("This page was last updated on " +document.lastModified+ ""), Coming To America film location: Akeem and Semmi's meagre accommodation in 'Queens': South 5th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn |, Coming To America film location: Akeem and Semmi arrive at the "most common" part of 'Queens': South 5th Street at Hooper Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn |, Coming To America film location: the King and his entourage stay in luxury in New York: Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Park Avenue, Manhattan |, Coming To America film location: Lisa and Akeem argue on the subway: Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets Station, Downtown Brooklyn |, Coming To America film location: Lisa runs to 'Briarwood Subway Station': Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles |, Coming To America film location: The McDowell house, in 'Jamaica Estates, Queens': South Muirfield Avenue, Hancock Park, Midtown Los Angeles |. During production on “Black Panther,” Lupita Nyong’o (once not a fan of “Coming to America” for its cliched depiction of Africans) and other cast … 2,288, This story has been shared 1,818 times. The ’McDowell’s’ burger restaurant (no connection of course with McDonalds) where Akeem and Semmi take on menial jobs to blend in with the community really was in Queens. When he and Semmi consult the map to find where a suitable woman for a king might live in New York City, the borough of Queens seems like an obvious choice. As is often the case when New York-set movies are based in Hollywood, a few locations were more convenient to film closer to the studio in Los Angeles. Rick Ross confirmed during the same month that his Georgia mega mansion will be used as a location in the film. And that entrance to the ‘Briarwood Subway’ in ‘Queens’? Akeem, with his servant/minder Semmi (Arsenio Hall) and an endless entourage, arrives ‘discreetly’ at John F Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 7, then as now, operated by British Airways. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), © 2021 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved, Eddie Murphy Tells His Side of 'Chappelle's Show' Prince Basketball Story. From the Mcdowell residence to Akeem and Semmi’s Apartment Building, we found em all … On Netflix, A Spanish Comedy With A Big Heart & Stellar Cast, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Your Name Engraved Herein' on Netflix, Taiwan's Most Popular LGBTQ+ Film, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Ammonite' on VOD, in Which Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan Fall in Love on the World's Ugliest Beach. The original Coming to America filmed in New York and some Los Angeles locations, including the Paramount studio lot. Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden - 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. This time, Coming 2 … 481, This story has been shared 442 times. The house and grounds have been seen in plenty of other movies, including American Wedding (American Pie 3), The Wedding Singer, A Cinderella Story, Indecent Proposal, The Nutty Professor (1996), Memoirs of a Geisha and Serenity. The actor Eddie Murphy plays the prince and is accompanied by Arsenio Hall on his journey to America. Looking to live modestly and unnoticed, Akeem reasonably orders a cab driver to take them to the “most common” part of Queens. Murphy was at the very height of his fame, coming off “Beverly Hills Cop II” and the stand-up special “Raw.”. Zamunda was never a real place. But will Coming 2 America capture New York City the same way the first film did? There’s nothing to see. We apologise and, as soon as travel restrictions are lifted, will return to posting original photographs. It was a branch of Wendy’s, which – as the film correctly states – stood at 85-07 Queens Boulevard, at Broadway in Elmhurst. The Coming to America sequel reverses Akeem’s journey and spends most of the time in Zamunda, so they built it in Atlanta.. The house is 555 South Muirfield Avenue in the swanky Hancock Park district of Midtown Los Angeles, now shyly hiding behind a screen of dense foliage. It is not uncommon for movies that take place in New York City to film in another city that is both cheaper and more accessible for production. Globally, it grossed $288,752,301, or about $550 million in today’s dollars,” according to Indiewire. MCDOWELL’S WAS ACTUALLY A WENDY’S IN QUEENS. Coming 2 America Review: Eddie Murphy’s Zamunda Needs New Blood Coming 2 America is aware of the dangers in a belated comedy sequel. 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They were heady times. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall return in the long-awaited comedy sequel, joined by Tracy Morgan and Leslie Jones. Published on December 1, 2016 Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall’s classic “Coming To America” was filmed in Brooklyn, New York, Los Angeles, and Simi Valley, California. Thirty-three years after “Coming to America,” Murphy and Hall have returned to Zamunda. McDowell house, in 'Jamaica Estates, Queens': South Muirfield Avenue, Hancock Park, Midtown Los Angeles The rundown apartment block, with the ‘My-T-Sharp’ barbershop at ground level, is 392 South Fifth Street on the southeast corner of Hooper. Is Lifetime's 'Girl in the Basement' a True Story? “We didn’t set out to recreate the first palace, so much as reinvent it,” Sage said in that same interview. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Unfortunately for those hoping to see the real Queens of the 21st century up on the screen, I have bad news: Coming 2 America was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, on the Tyler Perry Studio sound stages beginning in August 2019. The two 'dead' outer tracks – visible from the still-used platforms – are now used for movie and TV shoots. What Time Will 'Coming 2 America' Be on Amazon Prime? Directed by Craig Brewer. What Time Will 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Premiere on Disney+? Flights: John F Kennedy International Airport, New York, NY 11430 (tel: 718.244.4444), Stay at: the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022 (tel: 212.355.3000), Dine at: the River Café, 1 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (tel: 718.522.5200), Visit: Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10001, Visit: the Empire-Fulton Ferry Park, 26 New Dock Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, Flights: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), 1 World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045 (tel: 424.646.5252), Visit: the Huntington Library and Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 (tel: 626.405.2100), Please send any corrections or additions to info@movie-locations.com. 1,269, This story has been shared 1,226 times. The station was originally served by six lines, all on one level, only four of which are still in use. (Courtesy of Amazon Studios) It was constructed in front of 5661 Hollywood Boulevard at North Wilton Place in Hollywood, east toward Thai Town (if you were looking for ‘Marbo’s Appliances’ that was 5659 Hollywood Boulevard, currently standing empty. When her father (John Amos), without even consulting her, announces her engagement to Darryl, Lisa slopes off with Akeem to take a walk. As you can see, they arrive at the junction of South 5th Street and Hooper Street, at the time a fairly unprepossessing area, though not in Queens at all but Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The sequel, originally planned to hit theaters last year, was sold due of the pandemic by Paramount Pictures to Amazon, where it will begin streaming Friday. 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The African monarch Akeem learns he has a long-lost son in the United States and must return to America to meet this unexpected heir and build a relationship with his son. 1,530, This story has been shared 1,269 times. Eddie Murphy re-teams with John Landis after the success of 1983’s Trading Places, though filming reportedly put a strain on their relationship. This is where Coming to America … The faux-Tudor half-timbering and red brickwork looks far more LA than Queens. 1,818, This story has been shared 1,816 times. The Coming to America sequel reverses Akeem’s journey and spends most of the time in Zamunda, so they built it in Atlanta.. Alerted by Semmi to what is going on, King Jaffe Joffer and his retinue journey to New York to sort out the wayward prince. In an interview for the film’s press notes, the production designer Jefferson Sage said, “There’s enough of a complex of streets and buildings in Atlanta that gave us the core of what New York would be. It’s been 33 years since Coming to America first introduced us to the fictional country of Zamunda, its prince, and a whole slew of other hilarious characters. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Be sure to take On Location Tours’ TCM Classic Film Tour, which explores classic film locations on a three-hour guided bus tour of iconic films spanning from the 1940s through the 1980s. Though expected to be a failure, Coming to America went on to become the “the 3rd highest grossing film of 1988, taking home $128,152,301 domestic (adjusted for inflation, that is about $250 million in today’s money). On August 17, 2019, filming officially began in Atlanta, Georgia. ... And viewers can look forward to a new and improved royal palace in Zamunda, too. Photograph: Paramount/Allstar The other world Hall helped create was Zamunda, the fictional African country that Prince Akeem leaves to find a … * During the current situation, we're relying more than usual on Google Maps images. The film was primarily shot in major locations namely, New York, Los Angeles, California, according to Movie Location. Because we don’t spend a great deal of time in Queens in this movie, we had enough infrastructure to do some street setups. Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall return to Zamunda 33 years later. During production on “Black Panther,” Lupita Nyong’o (once not a fan of “Coming to America” for its cliched depiction of Africans) and other cast members threw a … They naturally stay in luxury at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, seen also in in Woody Allen’s Hannah And Her Sisters, Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, Scent Of A Woman, Analyze This, and briefly in Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing. 57,362, This story has been shared 3,877 times. ‘Coming 2 America’ Review: Eddie Murphy’s Sequel is an Enjoyable Return to Zamunda, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Moxie' on Netflix, a Nice Neofeminist Teen Comedy Directed by Amy Poehler, Netflix Launches Fast Laughs Mobile Feature to Scroll Through Comedy Clips, 'Bridgerton's Regé-Jean Page joins Ryan Gosling in 'The Gray Man' cast, 'The Mauritanian' Exclusive: Go Behind the Scenes of Jodie Foster's Golden Globe Winner, 'Moxie' Star Alycia Pascual-Peña Steals Every Scene In Amy Poehler’s Netflix Film, Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Mauritanian' on VOD, a Sturdy Political-Legal Procedural, The Best Shows on Discovery+: From 'The Murder List' to '90 Day Fiancé', Stream It Or Skip It: 'Charles & Diana: 1983' on Hulu, A Deep Dive Into The Year That Defined A Marriage, 11 Best New Movies on Netflix: March 2021's Freshest Films to Watch, Hulu's 'Charles & Diana: 1983' Shows a More Nuanced Look at 'The Crown' Season 4, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years' On Paramount+, A CGI-Based Series About A Young Sponge And His Buddies. Coming to America is a comedy film from 1988. Of course, the problems are eventually resolved, and Akeem and Lisa end up together. Thirty years later, director Craig Brewer returns to Zamunda for “Coming 2 America,” with Murphy reprising his role. Meanwhile stay safe and travel the world online. That ‘barbershop’ now houses the South Street Gallery. Akeem is hoping to find a bride in America that loves him for who he truly is, rather than for his royal title. The ‘Zamundan Film Commission’ is impishly thanked in the closing credits although, as you might have guessed, the African kingdom is totally fictitious. In 1998, John Landis directed a film, Coming to America, starring comedian Eddie Murphy.Eddie Murph y played the character of Akeem, a extremely rich prince who departures Zamunda … That film was released in 1988. The grounds of Zamunda’s palace, where Akeem and his father have a heart-to-heart among the elephants and zebras near the beginning of the film, are the Palm Garden of the Huntington Library and Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road in San Marino, east of Pasadena. Coming to America only had a few scenes in Zamunda. When Coming to America released in 1988, the film was a project tailor-made for Eddie Murphy.. With his career riding high with back-to-back box office hits 48 Hrs (1982), Trading Places (1983) and 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop, Murphy wanted to move away from fast talking, street wise characters and looked to recast himself as a romantic leading man.. We apologise and, as soon as travel restrictions are lifted, will return to posting original photographs. Now, back to Los Angeles, where interior sets were built at Paramount Studios, Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. It will once again find the prince and Semmi in Queens, this time in search of Akeem’s long-lost son, Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler). What Time Will 'WandaVision' Episode 9 Come Out on Disney+? Akeem follows and tries to explain. On the ‘Sutphin’ platform, you’ll notice Landis sneaking in his trademark See You Next Wednesday movie poster. Coming to America is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also starred in the lead role.The film also co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, and John Amos.The first installment in the Coming to America film series, it was released in the United States on June 29, 1988. 2,738, This story has been shared 2,288 times. And that’s how Coming to America became one of the great New York movies of the ’80s, capturing a side of the city not often featured in Nora Ephron’s romantic comedies. The Eddie Murphy sequel, premiering Friday, March 5, on Amazon Prime Video, required a … It seems that’s the route director Craig Brewer opted to take with Coming 2 America. Despite the signage, both ‘Van Wyck Blvd' and ‘Sutphin’ – where Lisa exits the train – were filmed on the disused platforms of the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets Station in Downtown Brooklyn. The 1988 film Coming to America depicted the hilarious and dramatic adventures of a Prince who moves out of his palace to find a new sense of freedom. The coin lands on heads, and so it is decided: They will go to New York. 582, This story has been shared 481 times. In the 1988 comedy Coming To America, Prince Akeem Joffer (Eddie Murphy) and his best friend Semmi (Arsenio Hall) flip a coin to decide where in America they want to go. "Coming 2 America" would have been a daunting assignment for any film composer. 1,043, This story has been shared 775 times. The whole block has been replaced by a huge apartment complex. Interesting? It’s safe to assume that in the intervening years, it would have been either demolished or gentrified and the good news is, it’s been neatly spruced up. 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The ‘Zamundan’ palace interiors where Prince Akeem (Murphy) longs to be free from the control of his parents, King Jaffe Joffer and Queen Aoleon (James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair) was a studio set built in Hollywood, but we’ll get back to that later. Our correspondent L.Marie spoke with the comedian about his experience filming the … This video is NOT targeted at kids under the age of 13. Here's all the info on the Coming 2 America filming locations. Zamunda was never a real place. Morgan is a veteran in the game but a new face to “Coming 2 America.”. All material Copyright © 2021 The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations Eddie Murphy stars in COMING 2 AMERICA …