News Flash: Eddie Murphy’s Best Comedy Hits Streaming This Week…

Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America is going to stream sooner than you think on Paramount+, and you’ll be able to catch up on one of the comedian’s most important movies. The news was confirmed by CBR, who are pointing out that the film will start streaming on Paramount’s platform next week, on August 1, 2024.

Coming to America tells the story of Prince Akeem Joffer, who was born in a very wealthy country in Africa called Zamunda. The king and queen of the fictional country, King Jaffe and Queen Aoleon are eager to find a bride for Akeem, but so far, nothing has worked. Akeem wants a woman who loves him for who he is and not for his money. The prince’s big plan is to come to the United States to find a bride who doesn’t know about his wealth.

Released in 1988, Coming to America was a smash hit for Murphy, who was already a 1980s pop culture phenomenon after starring in two Beverly Hills Cop movies. The film made over $280 million at the global box office and consolidated Murphy’s presence as a comedy superstar. The film was also a major success with critics and it still has a solid 73% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film was notable because of the balance between Murphy’s control and the direction by John Landis, who was a pretty controversial filmmaker by that point. In the end, the balance worked, and together, they made the third most successful film of 1988. The film also had its fair share of accolades the following year when it received two Academy Award nominations (Best Costume Design and Best Makeup).

Coming to America is also known for its star-studded cast, mostly based on African-American performers that made it one of the funniest Black movies of all time: Arsenio Hall (who would end up playing four characters like Murphy), Shari Headley, James Earl Jones, Eriq La Salle, John Amos, Frankie Faison, Madge Sinclair, Louie Anderson, and Samuel L. Jackson.

The film takes place in the same universe as Trading Places, another comedy starring Murphy and directed by Landis, and this is confirmed with the cameos by Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy, who play Mortimer and Randolph, once-wealthy men who are now homeless.

After coming out of Saturday Night Live as one of comedy’s most important stars, Murphy would become Paramount Pictures’ golden goose. His debut in 48 Hrs. landed him a Golden Globe nomination and shot him to stardom instantly. Ten years would pass until he made a film with another studio, but in the ’80s, Murphy was the face of Paramount. Sequel after sequel, he kept showing why his films could make more money than others. The signature laugh and peculiar style of raunchy comedy made him a genre icon overnight.
In 2021, Prince Akeem came back with Coming 2 America, a direct follow-up that suffered from COVID-19’s wonky theater schedules and went direct to streaming. In 2024, he revived Axel Foley’s character with Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the long-awaited action comedy sequel that went straight to Netflix and showed modern audiences the adventures of Detroit’s most important detective.