Coming to America is regarded as one of the greatest comedies of all time. But it almost didn’t make it to the big screen.
Appearing on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Arsenio Hall explained how the film was almost left on the cutting room floor.
”They turned Coming to America down,” Hall said. “We went and pitched it at Paramount, and they said, ‘No, thank you.’ And we were like, ‘Give us some notes. What should we do?’ And they were like, “We’re not sure, but you know, it’s a fish out of water. We’ve seen this a billion times.’”
Hall also shared how Murphy conceived some of the film’s classic characters.
“It’s Eddie that said, ‘Hey, I saw Arsenio do stand up on this HBO thing. And he does this thing about Jesse Jackson. I know he can do a great preacher and we can come up with some barbers,” Hall recalled. “And Eddie came up with the specific characters. And I just sat there shaking because I’m like, I got to do characters with Eddie Murphy… So I was a nervous wreck going into Coming to America.”
Ned Tanen, president of Paramount, did offer some game-changing advice.
“How about if the people you meet in America are played by Eddie?” Tanen asked.
THE FILM WAS A BOX OFFICE SMASH
Released on June 29, 1988, Coming to America was a massive commercial triumph, solidifying Murphy’s status as the era’s biggest box office draw. On a production budget of approximately $36 million, the film grossed $128.1 million domestically and $160.7 million internationally, totaling $288.8 million worldwide. It finished the year as the third-highest-grossing film in the United States.
The film also starred James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair, John Amos, Shari Headley, Eriq La Salle, Paul Bates, and Vanessa Bell Calloway.
Coming 2 America was released on Prime Video in 2021.