Prime Delivery Premiere: Amazon Studios Acquires Coming 2 America From Paramount Pictures

Eddie Murphy’s Prince Akeem came to America many years ago in the aptly titled Coming to America—and it looks like its sequel is coming to…your crib!

According to Variety, Amazon Studios has acquired the long-awaited sequel from its previous distributor Paramount Pictures for a reported roughly $125 million. Variety also reports that sources say the film will be released on Prime Video on Dec. 18.

Variety breaks down the upcoming sequel’s synopsis:

In the sequel, Prince Akeem is set to become king of the fictional country of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America — a street-savvy Queens native named Lavelle. To honor the former king’s dying wish to groom his grandson as the crown prince, Akeem and Semmi set off to America.

This is the movie business, so final contract negotiations are still underway at the time of this article’s publishing, and it looks like Murphy (who produces and stars in the film) still “has to give his blessing.” Sources also say there are “two complex consumer marketing tie-ins with McDonald’s and whiskey brand Crown Royal” involved in the deal, expected to transfer on over to Amazon in a package deal, which should be fun. Wait—does this mean there will be a special Coming 2 America McDonald’s (or McDowell’s) meal in the same vein as the Travis Scott meal? Come back here in the Kinja comments and ask me for lottery number predictions if I’m right.

This big news comes after Amazon’s other recent Black-ass acquisition, One Night In Miami, which has been in recent Oscar contender conversations. The switch from Paramount to Amazon also makes sense given the ongoing discussion of the dire state of movie theaters. In fact, it was just reported that AMC Theaters could potentially run out of money by the end of the year.

CNN reports:

The company said it has two ways out of its cash crisis: Either more customers need to buy tickets, or it will have to find new ways to borrow money.

Getting butts in seats has proven a major challenge. As of October 9, AMC reopened 494 of its nearly 600 US theaters at a seating capacity between 20% and 40%. But AMC (AMC) isn’t filling the limited seats it’s offering: Since the US theatrical market reopened in the late summer, it has served more than 2.2 million guests. That represents an attendance decline of 85% compared to last year.

Streaming platforms are faring much better naturally, as people are watching more content during lockdown. So, I’m sure Coming 2 America will be “very happy to be here”…on Amazon Prime Video, that is.