Wesley Snipes Joins Eddie Murphy in ‘Coming 2 America’

It’s been a long time coming for the Coming to America sequel, but now that it’s on its way, Eddie Murphy is assembling quite a cast. Wesley Snipes has joined the Coming 2 America cast in a new role, joining Murphy and original cast member Arsenio Hall in Paramount’s sequel to the classic 1988 comedy.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Wesley Snipes is joining the cast of Coming 2 America, which will see Akeem (Murphy) returning to America in order to find his long-lost son. Snipes will play a new character named General Izzi, a man who rules the neighboring nation to Akeem’s fictional wealthy African nation of Zamunda.

Arsenio Hall is on board to reprise his role as Akeem’s best friend and personal aide, Semmi, who in the original film, accompanied the Crown Prince of Zamunda to New York City to find the love of his life. The first Coming to America didn’t show Akeem do much beyond try to romance Lisa (Shari Headley), a young woman whose family owned a McDonald’s ripoff called McDowell’s, so the premise to the sequel will need some explaining.

Snipes isn’t much known for his comedy roles, but it will be entertaining to see him show off those chops in Coming 2 America. From the vague description of his role, it seems like General Izzi won’t be too much of a stretch for Snipes — that’s a stoic commanding officer role, if I’ve ever heard of one — so he will likely fall right into the part.

Snipes is the first new actor joining Coming 2 America, which has yet to confirm how many of the original cast will return. Hopefully it will include Headley, Arsenio Hall as the prince’s loyal aide Semmi, John Amos as the owner of the McDowell’s empire, and James Earl Jones, Akeem’s father and the king of Zamunda. Unfortunately, Madge Sinclair won’t be back as Queen Aoleon since she passed away in 1995.

Coming 2 America will see the reunion of Snipes with Murphy and Craig Brewer after the trio collaborated on Dolemite is My Name, a biopic of comedian Rudy Ray Moore set to premiere at next month’s Toronto International Film Festival. The original film’s writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield are back to pen the script, which got a rewrite from Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. A fall production start is being eyed.

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