Coming to America 2 gets release date, three decades after the original

The hit comedy released in 1988 and fans have waited more than 30 years for a sequel. Photo / Supplied

Eddie Murphy's Coming 2 America 2 will now be released on Amazon Prime Video after studio Paramount sold the anticipated movie to the streaming service.

Instead of a cinema run, the sequel to Murphy's classic 1988 comedy will be released on streaming on March 5, 2021. The movie was originally to be released in theatres in August but, like most blockbusters this year, was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Variety in October reported Paramount and Amazon were close to signing a deal for roughly US$125 million.

Coming 2 America 2 is a direct sequel to the original with cast members Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, John Amos, Louie Anderson, Garcelle Beauvais and James Earl Jones returning while newcomers include Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones, Wesley Snipes, KiKi Layne and Jermaine Fowler.

The Coming to America sequel is going straight to streaming on Amazon Prime. Photo / Supplied

Picking up decades after the first story, Akeem (Murphy), the Prince of Zamunda, and Semmi return to the US when he discovers he has a son he didn't know about, promising hijinks and laughs.

The 1988 comedy about an African prince who moves to the US in disguise as a poor foreign student to find real love was a huge hit at a time when Murphy was at the top of his movie career.

Murphy was most recently in lauded Netflix biopic Dolemite is My Name, an awards season contender in 2019.

Coming 2 America 2 is the latest production in a long line of movies which have been diverted to streaming after their original theatrical plans were disrupted. Paramount also offloaded the global rights of rom-com The Lovebirds to Netflix at the beginning of the pandemic while Michael B. Jordan movie Tom Clancy's Without Remorse is also said to be shifting to Amazon.

Other films that skipped planned theatrical releases and went straight to streaming include Mulan, The Trial of the Chicago 7, I Am Woman and Artemis Fowl. Pixar's upcoming film Soul will also go direct to Disney+.

This week, Warner Bros announced Wonder Woman 1984 will have a simultaneous cinema and streaming release in the US. In Australia, Wonder Woman 1984 will be released only in cinemas on Boxing Day.